The Lives and Lies of Leo and Lyra
by Martian Goddess
Summary: Leo and Lyra Jones grew up sheltered, just them and their mum. Now they're at Hogwarts and things are about to change. Especially after the Sorting Hat let slip some hints regarding the mystery of who their father is, or maybe 'was? Teddy/Victoire OC/OC OC/OC IN PROCESS OF BEING REWRITTEN
1. Welcome to Hogwarts

**DISCLAIMER: I'm not going to do this for every chapter so pay attention. I do NOT own the Harry Potter universe. I do however own Leo, Lyra, O'Malley, and anyone or anything else in here that does not come from the Harry Potter universe.**

Chapter 1 – Leo

Welcome to Hogwarts

September 1, 2009

Leo was apprehensive as he walked onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters with his mother, Hestia Jones, and his twin sister, Lyra. He had never seen anything quite like the Hogwarts Express with the scarlet engine gleaming in the light. He looked around the platform as Lyra continued the nonstop chatter that she had started the moment they woke up that morning. It was still quite empty as they were half an hour early for the train, in the hopes of getting a compartment, as his mum had said they filled up really quickly.

Finally, Lyra had stopped talking. He looked over and saw her hugging their mum, who had tears in her eyes. He went over to them and joined in the hug, telling his mum that, "We'll write you every week. Or at least I will. I can't make any promises about Lyra." That got the laugh out of her that he was hoping for, as well as a smack from Lyra that he'd been expecting but had hoped would not come.

"No hitting your brother," Hestia scolded as she hugged them both close again.

Leo squeezed tight, trying to reassure her. He knew that she had been dreading the day they would go off the school and leave her home alone for ten months out of the year. He gave one last squeeze before letting go, saying, "It'll be all right, Mum. We'll be home for the Christmas holidays in no time." He gave her a reassuring smile. He waited while Lyra said her last goodbye and then they each grabbed their owl cage and trunk and headed for the train.

"Let's go to the last compartment," he said to Lyra, thinking they'd be less likely to be disturbed.

Lyra agreed readily and they headed down the train.

* * *

Leo had been listening to Lyra chatter for ages. He did his best not to get irritated as he knew she was only doing so because she was as nervous as he about going away to school. All of a sudden, the compartment door slid open and a scrawny brown-haired boy stood in the doorway.

The boy smiled apologetically before saying, "Everywhere else is full. Do you mind if I join you?"

Lyra, who Leo could tell was glad for a distraction from her worrying, was quick to reply, "Not at all. Come in."

After staring at each other for a moment, the boy said, "So, my name's Teddy Lupin. What's yours?"

"I'm Lyra Jones and this is my twin brother Leo," said Lyra to the boy as Leo let her take charge of the conversation.

"Well, I kind of guessed that, seeing as how you two look nearly identical and all."

Leo smiled at that while Lyra let out a laugh. "I like you. I think we'll be good friends."

"I hope so. All the witch and wizard kids I know are somewhere between a bit and a whole lot younger than me so I don't know anyone else at Hogwarts."

Leo wondered at how he could know what sounded like a load of little witch and wizard kids as Lyra replied. "We don't know anyone else either. Our mum's really protective since it's just us and her so we don't get out much."

"What happened with your dad?"

Leo exchanged a look with Lyra as they silently communicated, deciding how much they wanted to tell this new boy. Finally Leo spoke, saying, "We don't know. Mum's never told us anything. Not even his last name; we use hers."

"That's a right shame. But at least you've got your mum though. I haven't even got that." Teddy got quiet all of a sudden.

Leo wondered at the sudden change in him as Lyra hesitantly asked, "What happened to them, if you don't mind telling us?"

"They died in the Battle of Hogwarts when I was a baby. I was raised by my grandmother and my godfather's around a bunch. I've got plenty of family with them and all my godfather's family and such."

Leo considered that, thinking that must be why he knows younger wizards and witches.

"Well, at least you know they loved you enough to fight for a better world for you." Lyra could be quite sensitive when she felt like it, though that wasn't often.

"I know. Thanks."

After a moment, Lyra spoke up again, "Well, let's talk about something happier. Tell us about your godfather and his family. You said he's got a big one?"

"Yeah. Huge. Though it's technically his wife's family. He's like me; only child and his parents dead. He's got three kids. They're like my brothers and sister. His wife's got six older brothers but one died in the Battle and one's single and lives abroad, so it's mostly just the other four. Between the lot of them, there's, let me think," he paused for a moment to count before continuing, "nine cousins, plus Harry's three and me, that's thirteen of us kids all together. But the next oldest is Victoire who's two years younger than me."

"Merlin's pants!" Lyra exclaimed, with Leo thinking similar thoughts but also thinking of the few names that Teddy had mentioned. Lyra kept right on talking without stopping to think, as usual. "That's a lot of people. Who is your godfather anyways?"

"Oh, didn't I say? He's Harry Potter." Teddy said it with a look that said he knew exactly what was coming next.

Lyra's jaw dropped. "You're- He's- What?" She spluttered.

"You heard him, Lyra." Leo said quietly. "His godfather is Harry Potter. Now, I don't think he wants the whole train knowing and bombarding him with questions, so how about you be quiet about it."

"Just one question," Lyra said. (Because Merlin forbid she keep her mouth shut, Leo thought) "How'd it happen?"

"Well, my dad was a really close mate with Uncle Harry's dad at Hogwarts. And then he became friends with Harry after he was his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in his third year. And both my parents were in the Order of the Phoenix so that's how my mum met Uncle Harry and my dad, too. One thing led to another, and my dad was asking Harry to be godfather. Uncle Harry always says he could have never refused my dad."

"Wow. And I thought not knowing a thing about our dad was a huge deal," Lyra said.

"Well, it is to you. That's what matters." Leo thought this Teddy bloke might be pretty all right, as he listened to him continue on. "And I know loads about my dad and my mum from Harry and all the Weasleys and other friends of the family that knew them. I can't imagine not knowing anything at all. But you know, Uncle Harry's not all legend-y in person. He's just as normal as anyone else, even if he does get stared at a whole lot when he goes out."

"I find that quite hard to believe with all the things I've heard about him."

"Well, if you want, you can come and visit sometime and meet him and everyone else."

"Wow," Lyra said again.

"Getting a bit repetitive aren't you, Lyra," Leo said with a bit of a smile at his sister's antics, while inside he was thinking that Teddy might be just a bit strange to invite home two people he barely knew.

Lyra sent him a glare before continuing, "We've only just met and you're inviting us home already? Didn't know it was possible to make friends that quickly. But are we going to stay friends if we don't all end up if the same house?"

At least she was mostly on the same page as him, though they rarely thought much differently. Lyra was always quicker to speak or act leaving any thinking to Leo, who preferred to think things through extremely thoroughly, or as Lyra always says, overthinking every little thing. This made him the one to get them out of trouble when he followed Lyra into making a mess of things. Lost in his thoughts about the differences between Lyra and himself, he almost missed Teddy's response to Lyra's question.

"Well, my dad was a Gryffindor but my mum was a Hufflepuff. And Uncle Ron says I better get into Gryffindor but Harry doesn't care where I end up. Personally I think I'll end up in one of the two. I want Gryffindor a bit more though, since all my family's going to end up there."

"Well, we're going for Gryffindor too for sure. Our mum was a Gryffindor and she says we're sure foolhardy and reckless enough to get put there." Leo couldn't help thinking that she was the foolhardy and reckless one, not him. Though come to think of it, maybe he was too, for helping her in all her hair-brained schemes.

"That's settled then, we're all going to ask the hat for Gryffindor. Do either of you know if the hat listens to requests?"

"No idea," Lyra said matter-of-factly. "Leo?"

"Nope. But I would think so since it's supposed to put us where we'd be happiest."

"Leo?" Teddy asked.

"Yeah?"

"How often to you actually talk? I've just realized that Lyra's been doing all the talking."

Leo was surprised at this comment, though he didn't show it. Teddy was probably the only person who'd ever noticed that he let Lyra do the talking when meeting new people. "I prefer to observe people and learn as much as I can about them from everything besides the words they say," Leo said. "Then me and Lyra confer and we decide if we like the person or not."

"Well, what do you think of me?" Teddy asked, a bit apprehensively.

"I think that you will make a good friend for us," Leo said, thinking of what Leo said about their dad and how willing he was to accept them in spite of it.

"I'm glad," Teddy said with a smile. "Oh look, the train's slowing down. We better get into our school robes."

* * *

They got off the train to hear an enormous man calling for the first years. Teddy walked right up to him and said, "Hullo, Hagrid."

Lyra followed though Leo was a bit more apprehensive about approaching such a large man.

"Hi there Teddy," he said with a gruff accent. "How're yeh?"

"Great!"

Leo walked up next to Teddy as they moved away into the crowd of first years heading for the boats at the edge of the lake. "Who was that?" he asked.

"Oh, that's Hagrid. He teaches Care of Magical Creatures. He's a friend of the family."

"Ah," Leo said, thinking that this Hagrid bloke didn't look much like a teacher to him.

Lyra called back to them. "Come on! Here's a boat for us all. Do you mind if we join you?" She said to the lone boy in the boat already.

"No. Not all." He replied in a thick Irish accent, continuing, "My name's O'Malley. I'm muggle-born so I've got no idea what's going on or who anyone is."

"Well," Lyra responded as she climbed into the boat, "we didn't know anyone either and we're all raised by wizards. I think most of the first years are like that. My name's Lyra, anyways. And this is my twin brother Leo. And this is Teddy who we just made friends with on the train."

"Nice to meet you. If you're raised by wizards, maybe you could help me. I heard someone mention getting sorted into houses. What's all that about?"

Leo tuned out as Lyra started to explain the houses and sorting to O'Malley with occasional interjections from Teddy when she forgot some detail or other. Looking out over the water, he wondered what the next seven years of his life were going to be like, at the school that his mother had always talked so little about, as though it was painful for her to even think about it.

* * *

Leo and the other first years walked into the Great Hall, following Professor Flitwick as he floated a stool and the Sorting Hat in front of him, being too small to carry them. Leo looked up in awe at the ceiling that was identical to the sky he'd just seen outside from the boats.

Finally, they reached the front of the large room and they all crowded around as Flitwick set the stool down with the hat on top.

A moment later, the brim of the hat opened and it began to sing. Leo listened attentively, as was his nature, as the Sorting Hat described its job and the traits belonging to each house. When the hat had finished its song, Leo clapped as the room burst into applause. Then the sorting began.

Leo began to worry. He knew that as it went in alphabetical order, he would be the one sorted first. What if he went into Gryffindor but then Lyra and Teddy didn't follow him? What if the hat refused to put him in Gryffindor but then put the others there? So preoccupied by his thoughts, Leo almost didn't hear his own name being called. Lyra nudged him forward. He walked up to the stool carefully, sat down, and waited for Professor Flitwick to set the hat on his head.

_Hmm_, the hat mused. _I see many things in your head. Much different from that of your father, but there are similarities as well-_

_You knew my father?_ Leo interrupted.

_Of course, of course. Very different from the rest of his family but he made a fine Gryffindor. Much more reckless than you but you have the same bravery and loyalty. Looks like-_

_Wait!_ Leo interrupted again. _What was his name?_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table broke out in applause and Leo reluctantly took the hat off and handed it to the Professor before heading to an empty spot he saw at the table.

Sitting down, he saw his sister walking up to stool. The hat was only on her head for a moment before he heard it shout "GRYFFINDOR!" once more to his relief. She hurried down to sit next to him, giving him a huge bear hug when she reached him.

They had to wait a while longer before they heard Professor Flitwick calling in his high, squeaky voice, "Lupin, Ted." They both stared avidly as he put on the hat. It took what felt like forever, though it was probably only a couple minutes, before it yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!" to the delight of all three of them.

Now that they were sorted, Leo felt much more relaxed and only listened slightly as the sorting continued. He didn't even notice that the boy, O'Malley, from the boat, had been sorted into Gryffindor until he heard Lyra and Teddy cheering him and welcoming him gladly to sit with them. Seeing how they got on with him, Leo realized he would probably have to befriend the boy, though he wasn't sure yet if he wanted to.

Later, when the sorting had finished, he saw the headmistress, Professor McGonagall, stand up. She began to speak, saying, "To our new students, welcome. And to our returning students welcome back. I have more to say but it can wait until after we eat. Tuck in." And suddenly, all the serving dishes on the long tables were filled with food. Leo was quick to grab his favorite, steak and kidney pie, before turning to talk to the rest of his group, now numbering four; himself, Lyra, Teddy, and the O'Malley boy who was staring in amazement at the food. Leo remembered belatedly that he was muggle-born and unused to seeing any form of magic, let alone something as impressive as this.

Not wanting to get left out as Lyra and Teddy made friends with O'Malley, Leo asked, "So, O'Malley. Why d'you go by your last name?"

"Because Canice sounds like a girl's name. And I figure a new school will be a good way to get rid of that wretched name and all the teasing that comes with it," he replied.

"Sounds like a great reason to me," Teddy said. "So did you go to a muggle primary school before this?"

"Yeah. Right bad one too. Though that may have been just for me. Like I said, all the kids teased me about my name and I was always getting in trouble for, what I now know, was accidental magic."

"I wish I could say I feel your pain," said Lyra, "but our mum home-schooled us rather than sending us to muggle school so we never had to worry about that."

They continued to talk as the feast went on. Leo still listening mostly, but liking O'Malley more and more the more he heard. O'Malley continued to regale them with stories of growing up muggle in between asking questions about the others' childhoods.

Finally, the feast finished. After Professor McGonagall's speech, they followed the prefects up to Gryffindor tower. Leo paid careful attention to where they went so he would remember in the morning when they had to come back down on their own for breakfast.

Upon reaching their dormitories, Lyra split off from their group to head up the girls' stairway as the boys headed up their own stairs. As they entered their room, they each sat down on the bed their trunks were in front of. Leo noticed that while on one side of his bed was the door, on the other side was Teddy's bed. Next around the circular room was O'Malley's bed. Glancing at O'Malley, he noticed the light-haired boy was staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

"I was just wondering what you thought of me, seeing as how you barely talked all night."

"Oh, sorry. I never talk much when meeting new people. I let Lyra do that and watch to see if they're the sort of person I would like."

"Well? Am I that sort of person?"

"Yes. I quite think you are."

"Oh. Good. I think the four of us are going to be right good mates," O'Malley said happily.

**Author's Note: Thank you for reading. This is my first fanfic, well actually, the first story I've ever written for anything. So PLEASE review. I have the next several chapters already written, I'm just waiting to get them back from my bff editor to make final edits. The more reviews, the faster I'll work to do said edits and get the next chapter up!**


	2. Nicknames Galore!

**So, I was rereading this and noticed a few mistakes. Nothing big but I felt the need to correct them.**

Chapter 2 – Lyra

Nicknames Galore!

September 1, 2009

Upon separating from the boys in the common room, Lyra headed up the stairs to her dormitory. She was not looking forward to sharing a room with a load of girls. After all, while her mum had made sure she could talk boys, clothes, and makeup with the best of them, she was still used to having her own room with Leo right next door.

She opened the door to the first year girls' room to see her trunk at the end of the bed directly opposite the door and the other girls unpacking and chattering excitedly. Never one to miss out on attention, she yelled, "HEY EVERYBODY!"

The other girls all jumped at the loudness of her voice before starting to laugh. The girl whose bed was to the right of Lyra's was the first to respond. "HEY GIRL!" She yelled, before continuing at a normal level. "My name's Emma Laraby. What's yours?"

"I," Lyra began is her most stately voice, "am Lyra Jones and your most ridiculously amazing roommate."

Emma giggled. "Well, how on earth can you know that when you don't know any of us yet?"

"Well, because I'm all-knowing, of course," Lyra responded, sounding mock offended that anyone would suggest otherwise.

Another girl spoke up, saying, "I don't know about most amazing but you've already won most ridiculous and amusing!"

"Thank you. Thank you very much! And you are?"

"Joanne. But I go by Jojo," she replied before continuing around the room. "And this is Anna. And Emma has already introduced herself. And over there is Emily and Janet."

"I am immensely honored to meet all of you." Lyra continued in a melodramatic voice saying, "but alas, I already have three best mates and as such will probably not be seeing you much outside of this room and classes."

"Oh yes," Janet replied. "We know about your three best mates. They're the boys you were talking to before the sorting and sitting with at the feast, correct?" Lyra nodded. "Well, as our roommate, I think it is your duty to introduce us to them in the morning, as they are the three best looking boys out of the first years."

"EEEEWWWW! One of those is my brother you know!"

"Exactly." Anna responded. "Then we don't have to worry about you calling dibs on him. Would it make you feel better if we let you call dibs on one of the other two?"

"I don't want to call dibs on any of them! They're my best mates! Not boyfriend material at all." Lyra finished matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I wasn't thinking boyfriend. I just want to get a good snog out of the black haired one," Emily said dreamily, not realizing the affect her words had had on Lyra.

"THAT'S MY BROTHER! AND IF ANY OF YOU MESS WITH HIM, I'LL TEAR YOU APART LIMB FROM LIMB!"

Emma spoke up, trying to keep the peace. "Oi, calm down Lyra. You tell us to keep our hands off your brother and we'll do it. We don't need any cat fights between roommates. Right girls?" The other girls nodded eagerly, having been scared by Lyra's outburst.

"Good," Emma said. "Now how about we all go to bed before someone else sets off the ticking time bomb," nodding at Lyra with a look on her face that said she was just messing with her.

Lyra laughed at that and smiled, saying, "Y'know, I'm not _always_ a ticking time bomb. Just most of the time."

* * *

September 2, 2009

Lyra woke up the next morning to yelling. Pausing to listen, she realized it was Leo calling up the stairs for her. Always a bear in the mornings, she groaned and rolled out of bed before stomping over to the door, yanking it open and yelling down the stairs, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU WANT LEO?"

"BREAKFAST." He called up the stairs. "And we're not leaving without you so hurry up!"

"FINE!" Lyra replied before slamming the door and turning around to see all the other girls glaring at her.

"This better not become a regular occurrence." Anna said bluntly. "Or you're going to be sleeping on a sofa in the common room."

Lyra sighed. "I'll talk to him," she said, before dragging herself back to her trunk to get dressed for the day.

A short while later, she trudged down the stairs to find the boys waiting impatiently for her. Well, Leo wasn't, but that's because Leo was used to her taking forever in the mornings. O'Malley on the other hand...

"Finally! What took you so long?" he said, exasperated.

"This kind of perfection takes time, O'Malley. I do not suddenly look this amazing just getting out of bed," she teases. "Oh, and my roommates now want to kill you lot for waking them all up with your yelling, so you better find a quieter way to wake me up in the mornings."

"How do you expect me to do that?" Leo asked. "I've been trying for eleven years and still haven't found an easy way to get you up in the mornings."

"You have to wake her up that way every day?" Teddy asked. "And I thought Vic was bad."

"Who's Vic?" O'Malley asked.

"My godfather's niece. She's next oldest in the family after me. She's near impossible to get up in the morning."

"Wait, you mean Victoire?" Lyra asked, starting to think.

"Yeah, her nickname's Vic."

"Nicknames! You all need nicknames!"

"Oh no." Leo said. Lyra knew he'd been hoping she would drop the nickname thing once they got to school. Oh, was he sadly mistaken.

"What's so bad about nicknames, Leo?" O'Malley asked.

"You haven't heard the sorts of nicknames that she comes up with," Leo answered with a grim tone.

"What's yours?"

Lyra had been waiting for someone to ask that, fully prepared to make the most out of embarrassing Leo. "StaaaarrrrBeaaaaarrr!" she yelled enthusiastically, drawing out each syllable.

"StarBear?" O'Malley choked out between his laughter.

"Just you wait. She's going to come up with something just as horrible for you."

At that, Lyra started muttering, "Canice O'Malley. Canice O'Malley. Hmmm." Well, she thought, Canice really does sound like Candice. And Candice sounds like candy and candy is sweet... "I've got it! You, Canice O'Malley are now SweetValley!"

"What? No way are you calling me that!"

Leo walked over to O'Malley and clapped on the back comfortingly, "I apologize for my sister, mate. But you're stuck with it. She doesn't change her mind. Ever. Unless it's to come up with an even worse nickname."

"Thanks for the sympathy," O'Malley said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Lyra was glad to see Leo talking to O'Malley. She knew he was slower to make friends than she and didn't want him to be left out because of how quiet he could be. But now that the ice was broken between them... "Your turn Teddy!"

His laughter stopped abruptly with a look of fear on his face.

"TeddyBear is too obvious, so..."

Leo, trying to save Teddy from her, said "Lyra, you do know that if we don't hurry, you won't get breakfast, right?"

"FOOD!"

Leo shook his head at her, but she ignored him. "Come on Leo. Show the way."

O'Malley spoke up again, "How is he supposed to know the way to the Great Hall any better than us?"

"Because, my dear SweetValley, he pays attention and remembers _everything_."

"Well then, let's go. I'm hungry."

The quartet made their way downstairs, and after one mix-up where a staircase had moved, they made it safely to the Great Hall.

"BearyPoo!" Lyra yelled at the bottom of the grand staircase.

"What?" Teddy said.

"Your new nickname."

"Please no."

"Oh yes."

"Remind me again why I'm friends with you."

Lyra stuck her tongue out at him before walking into the Great Hall with her nose in the air. He would learn that you do not argue with her.

They followed her inside and sat around her, grabbing food from the serving platters. Lyra had already started scarfing down food, though she somehow managed to do so without getting a drop of food anywhere besides her mouth and her plate.

As she ate, the boys talked about this and that, with the conversation often circling back to Quidditch as SweetValley O'Malley had never seen it played before.

Near the end of the meal, Lyra remembered the conversation with her roommates from the night before. Never one to wait for people's attention, she yelled, "Hey!"

"What?" The boys said as one, turning to look at her.

"I thought you might want some warning before class."

"Warning about what?" Leo asked, wary of what prank she might be planning to pull.

"I'm not talking about a prank, Leo. Thank you very much. I'm talking about my roommates." The boys looked bewildered so she continued. "They think that you three are the best looking boys in our year, and there's at least one who I wouldn't put it past to slip you a love potion from Weasley Wizarding Wheezes."

"Oh, we don't need to worry about WWW love potions. Uncle George gave me several bottles of antidote before I left. He seemed to think I might have trouble with people slipping me some of his love potions," Teddy said.

"Really?" O'Malley asked.

"Yeah. He said as soon as people found out what I could do, the girls would be all over me. And since he's responsible for making the WWW love potions so effective, it was his job to save me."

Lyra was now intensely curious. "What do you mean, 'what you can do'?"

Teddy looked around before whispering, "I'm a metamorphmagus."

Lyra and Leo's eyes widened while O'Malley just looked confused. "What's a meta-whatchamacallit?"

Lyra answered in a hushed voice, "A metamorphmagus can change their appearance at will. They're really rare. You have to be born one."

"Wow."

Teddy looked embarrassed at their awe. "Yeah, my mum was one. She passed it on to me. But McGonagall's a friend of the family and she said she wants me to keep it quiet here at school. Especially to begin with." He sighed heavily. "I miss _my_ hair. This brown is the color of my dad's hair in the pictures I've seen. But I like mine better."

"What color is your hair normally?" Leo asked.

"Here, I'll show you. But just with my eyebrows so other people don't see." His face screwed up in a look of concentration, and then his eyebrows were suddenly a bright turquoise.

Lyra yelped with surprise.

Teddy shushed her, looking around before changing his eyebrows back. "McGonagall said to pick a calmer color for the first term of school. And since my mum kept her hair bubblegum pink most of the time, I picked my dad's hair color."

"That's so wicked," Lyra whisper-yelled excitedly. "All the things you could get away with by doing them while you look like someone else!"

"No way, Lyra. McGonagall would know it was me and then I'd not only have detention, I'd also have Aunt Ginny ready to kill me. She's right scary when she's mad. I'm not doing anything to get on her bad side."

"Awww," Lyra lamented.

"Change the subject. Professor Longbottom's headed this way with our schedules," said Leo, ever the attentive one.

When Professor Longbottom reached them, Lyra was surprised to see him turn to Teddy and say, "How are you doing, Teddy? Ginny said to remind you to write her soon."

"Hi Uncle Neville! I already sent her a quick letter last night telling her about the sorting and my new friends." He glanced over at said friends to see them gaping at him with their mouths hanging open. Smiling in understanding, he simply told them, "friend of the family."

"Everyone is a friend of the family for you," Lyra accused.

Professor Longbottom laughed at that. "Well, it certainly is a big family. But in my case, I was a roommate of Harry and Ron when we all went to here. But, here are your schedules. I'll be seeing you lot first thing in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Oh, and Teddy?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry to say that if you forget and call me Uncle Neville in class, I will be forced to give you detention. I do not want to have to write Ginny and tell her you got a detention on your first day."

"Yes Professor Longbottom," Teddy said dutifully.

Professor Longbottom clapped him on the shoulder before continuing on down the table.


	3. Slytherins Attack

**This chapter is for katt1222 who story alerted this, giving me a reason to update, especially since my bff hasn't gotten back to me with edits for this chapter yet. I did edit it myself though, and I think it'll do the story justice.**

**DISCLAIMER: Madam Hooch's lines are quoted directly from the first HP movie, which is owned by Warner Bros. I would have quoted the book but my mom lost our copy of Sorcerer's Stone. :P**

Chapter 3 - O'Malley

Slytherins Attack

September 2, 2009

Later, on their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, O'Malley was looking at his new friends and thinking how lucky he was. Ever since he'd found out what he was, he'd been worrying that it would make a difference to people. After all, he had no idea what to expect. He'd tried to read his textbooks to find out more about the magical world, but he had never been much of a reader. That was always his little sister, Rissy. Thinking of his sister, he smiled. She was only seven but she could read faster than anyone he knew. He was really hoping she'd turn out magical too so that she could come to Hogwarts with him, but he doubted it; nothing strange had ever happened around her like it had for him. Looking back at his friends, he was again grateful for their acceptance of him despite being muggle-born. This lot even seemed to think it was cool; always asking him about muggle stuff; so fascinated by the simplest things.

Just as he thought this, a group of Slytherin first years came up behind them. "Oh look. I spy a filthy little mudblood."

At that last word, Lyra spun around and spat out, "Don't you ever call him that again or I will tear you limb from limb!" O'Malley was astonished by the ferocity behind her words. Not even when she had been yelling at the top of her lungs earlier, had there been this much force behind what she was saying. Truly, she was a scary at the moment, and the words weren't even directed at him. How that boy wasn't cringing in fear was beyond his comprehension.

"Does Little Miss No-Daddy have a crush on the mudblood?" The Slytherin boy continued. "Do you have to fight for him because he's too chicken to fight for himself?"

How did this boy know about Lyra's dad? She had barely even mentioned the man to him. And there hadn't been anyone nearby to hear. He shook these thoughts off as he looked at Lyra again. O'Malley didn't know what a mudblood was, but what he did know was that the use of the word had made her look ready to commit murder if someone didn't do something. And quick.

Walking forward, he got between Lyra and the Slytherin boy and pushed her backwards saying, "He's not worth it. Just let it go."

She fought against him, but he held her back, refusing to let her do anything detention-worthy. After all, if Teddy's Aunt Ginny wouldn't like him getting detention, she also probably wouldn't like him spending time with people who got detention.

All of a sudden, Professor Longbottom walked up. "Is something the matter here, Mr. O'Malley?" he asked, seeing O'Malley's attempts to restrain Lyra, though the Professor had no way of knowing from what he was restraining her.

"Nothing sir," O'Malley replied. After all, he had stopped her from hurting anyone, and he doubted that what the Slytherin had said was enough to give _him_ detention.

The Professor looked suspicious but he chose to drop it after glancing at the Slytherins. He simply said, "Then you lot should all be heading into my classroom now. Get moving."

O'Malley was quick to obey, dragging Lyra after him as Leo and Teddy followed. Not wanting to seem like teacher's pets but also not wanting to be thought of as troublemakers needing extra detentions, they headed for the middle of the classroom. O'Malley made sure to steer them towards desks on the opposite side of the room from the Slytherin boy and the rest of the group he had been with. It was never good to ask for trouble in his book. Not with a teacher so close to give out detentions at the slightest sign of wrong doing.

He got his supplies out and settled down to take notes as Professor Longbottom began to lecture.

XXX

By the end of class, O'Malley was in a mild state of shock. Though they had yet to learn any spells or jinxes or anything he'd read about in his textbook, just hearing about what all they would learn over their years at Hogwarts was enough to make him want to say 'Brilliant!' repeatedly. For once, school seemed like it could be something enjoyable, rather than the torture that the years at muggle primary school had been.

The Slytherin boy, whose name he had found out was Edwin Avery, looked as though he thought this was all a joke, but O'Malley had already decided that he was going to do his best to avoid him. He didn't want Lyra to get in trouble for letting her temper get the better of her in his defense. From what Leo had told him and Teddy the night before about her and her pranking tendencies, it seemed as though she would be getting plenty of detentions on her own. He didn't want to add to her work load. Especially, since Hogwarts was a boarding school, detention could last all the way until curfew if you did something bad enough. At least according to what he'd overheard on the train ride here. Apparently, many of the older students had been forced to suffer through these long detentions multiple times through their years. Thinking back to what happened before class and how close Lyra had gotten to doing something worthy of a detention, he again thought about the word that the Avery boy had used. Mudblood. There hadn't been time yet for any of his friends to explain what mudblood meant, but he had a feeling it was right awful. _But what exactly did it mean and what made it so ruddy awful?_ he wondered.

Just then, he heard Professor Longbottom call out, "For homework, please read the first chapter of your textbook, _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_, for our next lesson. You are dismissed."

O'Malley gathered his things together and got up along with Leo, Lyra, and Teddy. As they headed for the door, he asked, "So, what does mudblood actually mean, exactly?"

At the mention of it, Lyra got that right terrifying look on her face again and Leo looked as though he was preparing to restrain her if necessary.

Teddy was the one who finally answered after a look at Lyra. "It's a really nasty name for someone who is muggle-born, like you. It's like saying you have dirty blood. That you're beneath everyone else because your parents aren't magical." O'Malley still didn't see what was so awful about it that Lyra would get that angry. It just sounded like an uncreative insult. Seeing the look on his face, Teddy continued. "It's always been a real awful thing to call someone, but it's been worse since the War. We've told you the basics, but I think we forgot to mention the basis of Voldemort's ideology. He was all for the purity of blood. He wanted to eliminate all muggle-borns and only keep enough muggles around to act as slaves to a ruling wizard regime. It was a horrible time from what my family says, though they don't like to talk about it much. Especially Grandma Dromeda. My grandfather was killed during the War for being muggle-born. My point though is, that now, when someone uses _that_ word, it's like saying you wish Voldemort had won the war." Teddy finished with a shudder.

O'Malley stood there in shock. He'd read a bit about Voldemort in his textbooks and his friends had told him a bit, but he must have missed that part. There was after all, a large part of their History of Magic textbook that was devoted to Voldemort and his regimes during the First and Second Wizarding Wars. To think, if he had been born twenty years earlier, he would probably be dead now – his thoughts broke off there, almost scared to continue down that particular road. Finally he said, "Alright. But I still don't want you lot getting in fights for me. Especially you Lyra. You're going to be getting enough detentions on your own without getting them for me too."

He gave her a stern look until she broke and said, "Blimey. Alright. I won't go gettin' in fights for you. But," she continued defiantly, "I will fight that Avery git if he tries to insult _me_ again."

O'Malley sighed, knowing it was the best he'd get out of her. "Well then. Now that that's settled, let's get to class before we get detention for being late."

As they headed off, he thought that worrying about getting detention had somehow turned into the biggest part of his life at the moment.

XXX

They walked out into the courtyard to see Madam Hooch, who was getting on in years, standing next to several rows of broomsticks.

She greeted the class briskly, saying, "Good afternoon class."

The class dully responded, "Good afternoon Madam Hooch.

"Welcome to your first flying lesson."

At hearing those words, O'Malley started to bounce around excitedly. He couldn't wait to fly. He'd always wanted to, ever since he was a little kid. If anyone talked to his mother, she would regale them with stories of his childhood exploits as he tried to discover a way to fly. The one she always started with tended to involve him, roofs, pillows, and plastic wings. Second was always him, swing sets, and leaf piles.

He jumped as he heard Madam Hooch call out "Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone, step up to the left side of a broomstick."

O'Malley ran over to the broom closest to him before being dragged away by Teddy. He was about to get angry and being dragged from something he had wanted so badly for so long when Teddy said, "That's an awful broom. Follow me and let's see about getting you one that'll actually work properly."

"Alright. How about that one? It looks quite nice." The one he was pointing to looked a bit less beat up than the rest of the brooms and the twigs that made up the end were still somewhat streamlined, rather than pointing out all over the place.

Teddy looked at his choice before saying, "It'll do." He sighed before continuing, "I wish I could've brought my broom. It's much easier learning to fly on a good broom."

Once everyone was settled next to a broom, Madam Hooch again called out saying, "Now. Each of you stick your right hand out over your broom and say Up!"

Teddy and O'Malley did as told and both their brooms jumped promptly into their hands.

"Now, once you've got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it. And grip it tight. You don't want to be sliding off the end. When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle, three, two," she blew her shrill whistle.

O'Malley went through the lesson, always doing as he was told for once. After all, he did not want to fall to his death as soon as he got his first chance to fly for real, instead of just jumping through the air and waiting to fall.

As the lesson ended, Teddy said, "You're a natural. With some practice, you'd make a good Quidditch player."

"But when am I supposed to practice?" O'Malley knew that to practice Quidditch, he would need time outside of normal flying lessons, and the pitch was reserved for team practice. It's not like he could practice at home during the holidays either. Living in a muggle neighborhood, people would look askance at a boy flying around on a broomstick.

"You can come to my house this summer. The Weasley/Potter clan always has someone willing to play Quidditch. And we've got people for every position so you can try them out and find what's best for you."

"That'd be wicked mate! Thanks! But wait, I haven't got my own broom, and I don't think my parents will consider it a necessity to buy one unless I make the house team."

"Oh, don't worry about that. We've got plenty of extra brooms you could borrow."

Just then, a girl (quite pretty, O'Malley thought) walked up to them. "Hi," she said nervously.

"Hi," O'Malley said. He wondered what she could possibly want seeing as how he'd never even seen her before just now.

She spoke up again, saying, "I was just wondering if you'd like to hang out some time. With me, I mean?"

This new school thing was doing wonders for O'Malley, he thought. New name, real friends, and a girl asking him out already. And a right pretty one at that. "Sure, I'd like that. Tomorrow night, after dinner?"

"Okay," she said before walking away, though not before shooting a glare at Lyra, who had just walked up.

"What's she glaring at me for?" Lyra complained loudly.

O'Malley, relatively clueless in regards to the thinking of girls, replied, "No idea. But guess what she wanted?"

"No idea. Please enlighten me, oh excited one," Lyra said, clearly bored.

"She just asked me to hang out with her!" O'Malley on the other hand was clearly excited that a girl had taken interest in him.

"I tried to warn you. I should probably start carrying one of those love potion antidotes around with me so you don't embarrass yourself."

At that, O'Malley glared at her and stalked off, heading for their next lesson.

**Thanks for reading! Now, please review, because I've seen my story stats and I've had more than 2 readers but only 2 reviewers. The more you review, the faster I'll update!**


	4. Homework Aplenty

**So, based off responses, I'm rewriting this in third person. And this is still kind of filler, but it's mostly to set up the background. To help, I'm going to be posting the next couple of chapters very soon. They will also be quite short but more background.**

Chapter 4 – Leo

Homework Aplenty

September 2009

Leo plopped down in the armchair by the fireplace. Oh, how he loves that armchair. His friends and sister sat down in various places around his chair. And now, he knew, it was time to ruin the evening for them. "Well, unless we want detention again for not turning in our homework, we'd better get started on that essay Binns assigned."

"What's it on again?" Lyra, of course, hadn't been paying attention in class. But Leo knew that this was just how she was. It was a right miracle how she did so well in school.

"12 inches on the importance of the Goblin Rebellion of 1357 from both wizarding and goblin perspectives." Like any textbook written by wizards would have the goblin perspective. Leo sometimes wondered if Binns had gone mental when he came back as a ghost. Honestly, assigning something like this to first years. Downright crazy.

"Ugh. Why do we have to take this stupid class? It has no use. None at all." Lyra did have a point there. Leo himself couldn't think of a single career that actually would require a N.E.W.T. in History of Magic.

Teddy on the other hand seemed to be enjoying his detention free record. "Complaining about it isn't going to make it finish itself. Let's get started. I want to sleep tonight." As the only one who cared about schoolwork in the slightest, Leo knew Teddy had been up very late the night before trying to finish his homework after spending all afternoon and evening with the rest of them. Though, come to think of it, he's the only one who didn't get a detention for unfinished homework today.

XXX

O'Malley was the first to ask a question after they each had written the topic on the top of a roll of parchment. "How am I supposed to give the goblin perspective when the only time I've ever even seen one was for about five minutes in Gringotts while my parents exchanged muggle money for wizarding?" Thinking about that, Leo realized that he and Lyra hadn't ever seen goblins before either. Their mum had never taken them with her when she had to go to Gringotts.

Lyra was the one to answer. "Ask Leo. He'll be able to quote Binns' lecture word for word." Sometimes, Leo just wanted to strangle his sister. But then he would remember that he loved her too much to live without her.

"Really?"

"I've got a good memory." And of course Lyra had to tell everyone else about it. Leo cursed her inability to keep her mouth shut.

"Don't worry mate. I'm not going to complain. But maybe you could start by explaining what actually happened in the Goblin Rebellion of," taking a peek at the top of his paper, "1357?" All Leo could think was that, as a muggle-born, one would expect O'Malley to be interested in learning about wizarding history. But no. Muggle-borns don't care about it anymore than wizards do. Which meant even O'Malley sleeps through History of Magic.

"Alright. It started with..." Leo began, as he recited what Binns had told them just _that_ _morning_ in History of Magic.

By the end of the night, Leo was ready to jinx someone. Having a good memory did not turn him into a walking textbook so people wouldn't have to check their textbooks for the answers. At least they had all finished it. No detention tomorrow!

**While rewriting this, I decided that rather than keep this chapter as a jumbled mess of random events, I'm going to several really short chapters to keep the events separate and include different povs. So 4 really short chapters after this one for background. Then the mystery of their father. But I'm going to post them super fast since they're so short.**


	5. Pranking Fun

**Here's the next mini-chapter! Just a few laughs.**

Chapter 5 – Teddy

Pranking Fun

Late September 2009

"We should prank Avery!"

Teddy woke up to Lyra's shout in the boys' dormitory. She was such a pain to wake up during the week, but come Saturday, and she was ready to ruin any chance they had of sleeping in. Luckily, the other boys never slept in, so it was only Teddy, Leo, and O'Malley that she was waking up. Teddy wished that for once, she would let them sleep in.

"Why do you insist on messing with him, Lyra?" Teddy could tell that O'Malley was annoyed by her attitude toward Avery. They all thought he was a git but O'Malley hated that they had become enemies because of him. He thought he was at fault whenever she got detention over him. You think he would realize that there's no controlling Lyra. Not even Leo tries.

"Because he's a pompous, pureblood, egotistical, arrogant git of a wanker!"

"Lyra. Those are all just synonyms of each other." Hmm. Well, Teddy thought, Leo wasn't really trying to control her, he was just contradicting her. Though they weren't all synonyms. Not technically.

"So what? It's true." And now she was folding her arms and sticking her chin out and looking like a stubborn six year old.

Leo seemed to have given up already. "Fine. What are we going to do to him?"

I was thinking of jinxing his forehead to read 'I'm a pompous prat' in neon pink."

"Hmm. A classic but always a good one. I like the color choice, but maybe Gryffindor red instead?" Sometimes, Leo seemed to encourage her too much. But at least they were going to make the most of the prank.

"I like it!" And then Teddy knew that this was where he was going to get dragged into the conversation. After all, she didn't know how to perform a jinx like that.

"Teddy! BearyPoo! Wakey wakey! We need you to aid in our quest for justice in this cruel world."

"Yes, Lyra. Because that sounds so much better than saying you need help with a prank. Except I heard the whole conversation and cannot be tricked."

"Pretty please?" She brought out the irresistible puppy dog eyes. No one could say no to that face.

"Alright. I'll do it. But if I'm going to be stuck in the library all day, you're going to be stuck there with me."

* * *

By dinner that night, Lyra had mastered the jinx Teddy found in a deep, dark corner of the library. She was currently hiding near the doors to the Great Hall on the path Avery would have to follow to get from the Slytherin common room to the Great Hall. Teddy was currently praying she didn't get caught. Unlike his own detention free record, she couldn't afford to get anymore detentions. From what Leo had told him, if she got one more, their mum was likely to send a howler. Teddy had never witnessed a howler himself but had heard the stories and did not want to be anywhere near when one went off.

And here was Avery. And she had done it. Teddy watched as Leo slipped out to go find her and make sure she didn't look suspicious coming back. It was a good thing he planned things like that in advance.

* * *

Middle of dinner. He still hadn't noticed. Teddy couldn't believe his cluelessness. The whole Slytherin table was laughing about it but not a single one said anything to him. They probably agreed with it. It was true after all.

* * *

By the end of dinner, Avery still had yet to realize that anything was wrong. Teddy led his friends out of the Great Hall as they speculated on how long it would last. They all agreed that however long, it would be plenty amusing for everyone.


	6. Vomit Palooza

**Another mini-chapter (super mini) :**

Chapter 6 – Lyra

Vomit Palooza

Early October 2009

Lyra normally wasn't one for solitude, but today she was feeling lazy. And as it was the weekend, she had beaten all the boys out of bed and didn't want to spend the effort getting them up for breakfast.

And she was, just now, realizing that solitude wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was the quiet that got to her actually. So, sitting by herself in the Great Hall, with all the noise around her, was actually quite peaceful. It also provided an escape from the boys.

Growing up with a brother, Lyra was used to spending all her time with boys. However, she did not like sharing that time with disgusting girlfriends. Except in the case of O'Malley, who was the only one with a girlfriend, they couldn't even really be called girlfriends. The current girl was just his girl of the week. After all, they never lasted more than a week.

And speak of the devil; O'Malley was just walking in with his current girl latched onto his arm. He had such awful taste in girls. He always chose the ditzy ones that just wanted to make goo-goo eyes at him constantly. That was, when they weren't snogging and making everyone around want to vomit.

Lyra was praying he would sit elsewhere, but upon seeing her, he headed straight for her and plopped down with girl in tow. She really needed to learn Legilimency.

"Hello Lyra. How is your morning going?"

"Much better before you showed up with the girl of the week in tow." Lyra didn't even try to keep the girl from hearing. After all, if _she_ took offence and left, all the better. No such luck.

"Oi! Leave her be Lyra. I don't harp on your boys."

Sometimes, he really needs to think about his comebacks before he says them. "That's because I recognize the fact that I'm only eleven, I do not need a boyfriend and as such, I do not have any. Meaning no such boys exist for you to harp on."

Recognizing he had lost, he took to ignoring her and focused on _her_.

Lyra, recognizing a lost cause, left to find Teddy and Leo and warn them to avoid the Great Hall.


	7. Teddy's Thoughts

**Another Teddy chapter! I love Teddy.**

Chapter 7 – Teddy

Teddy's Thoughts

October 2009

Looking out over the Quidditch pitch, Teddy thought of his life at Hogwarts. He had three great friends, all of whom surrounded him as they waited for the first Quidditch game of the season to start.

Lyra, the ever excitable one. Always willing to randomly start yelling for no particular reason. Though, sometimes there was a particular reason, like when she was hungry and yelled for food, or felt like embarrassing them and screamed their awful nicknames at the top of her lungs. She was his first non-family friend though, and he loved her like a sister. Or at least, how he thought he would love a sister if he had one, seeing as how he was an only child. He laughed at himself just then, thinking how even Lyra would think he was being ridiculous with that thought. But then she was a whole load smarter than she liked people to think. After all, she got the best grades in their year, except for maybe Leo and O'Malley, all of whom got perfect scores without really trying. Oh well, he didn't have to try that much harder than the rest of them.

Leo. So calm compared to his sister, but perfectly capable of being as crazy as she. He just hid it better. He was the mastermind behind all the pranks they pulled. Lyra came up with the crazy ideas but Leo was the one that turned them into reality. He was also the only reason they weren't living in detention, though they did spend a lot of time there. He also remembered everything without trying. He never missed anything. Not even the little smile Teddy got whenever Vic wrote him a letter. He was going to have to watch Leo. Teddy didn't think Leo would say anything, but you could never be too careful. And if word got back to Lyra that he was sweet on Vic, he'd never hear the end of it.

O'Malley. The consummate player. A different girlfriend every week. Though Teddy wasn't sure he should even call them girlfriends, seeing as friends actually talk to each other, and O'Malley never seemed to be talking to his girl of the week. It was quite disgusting actually. Just the other day, he and Leo had had to avoid the Great Hall at the warning of Lyra to keep from vomiting at the scene O'Malley and his girl were putting on. Teddy was also a bit amazed at how he'd taken to being at Hogwarts. Despite being muggle-born, he had taken to magic like a fish in a pond. He was still caught off guard sometimes though, when he saw something particularly ordinary that he hadn't realized could be done by magic, like that time they snuck into the kitchens and saw the dishes doing themselves.

Ah, the kitchens. Teddy's favorite place in the castle. The house elves were so helpful and always willing to feed a hungry boy. He liked it best though when Kreacher was visiting his friends among the Hogwarts house elves. He would always take the time to tell Teddy stories of how things were going at the Potter Mansion.

He often ended up going to the kitchens by himself, as the others preferred to find new places, rather than return to places already discovered. At the rate they were going, they'd know the castle inside out and backwards by the time the Christmas holidays came around.

Suddenly, he was startled from his thoughts as he heard the announcer cry, "Welcome, to the first Quidditch match of the season between Hufflepuff and Slytherin!" Guess I better pay attention now...

**I hope you enjoyed it. Mostly things you already know with a few new tidbits. If you have any questions, I will always answer even if it's just to say I can't because it would spoil the ending :)**


	8. Girl Talk It's a Necessity

**The last mini-chapter! Though I can't promise how long the next one will be, I can promise that it won't be fluff or intro. Promise.**

Chapter 8 – Lyra

Girl Talk, It's a Necessity

November 2009

Lyra walked into her room on Saturday to find Emma stretched out on her bed writing a letter, probably to her mum. True to her muggle mum, Emma was using lined notebook paper and a muggle pen. She loved to argue with those raised by wizards that pens were better than quills because you couldn't spill ink and you didn't have to wait for it to dry.

Emma looked up just then to see Lyra. "I'm almost finished. Then we can have our talk."

Despite having different friends, they were each other's best girl friend and made an effort to have a good long talk every weekend.

Lyra sat on her bed cross-legged while she waited for Emma to finish.

Emma finished her letter with her usual curly signature before folding it up and putting it in an envelope. "Done. Walk with me to the Owlery and we can start our talk on the way."

"All right. How's your week been?" Lyra said.

"Quite good. Professor Sinistra says I'm top of our year in Astronomy."

"Probably because you were raised with a telescope attached to your face."

"Probably. But how's your week been?"

"Exhausting," Lyra sighed, clearly still tired.

Emma giggled at that, saying, "I know." At Lyra's questioning look, she continued, explaining, "It's kind of hard to miss that fact that every night this week, you've either fallen asleep in the common room with your books all around you or in bed with your books all around you. Both after staying up into the wee hours of the morning trying to finish your homework after spending every evening this week in detention with Professor Longbottom after you cursed Avery with something we're not supposed to have learned yet."

At that last comment, Lyra looked gleeful. "But it was worth it," she sighed happily. "The look on Avery's face after I cursed him was bloody brilliant."

"I dare say it was, but you need your sleep Lyra," Emma responded, with her usual mothering tendencies.

Lyra simply nodded at that, not wanting to worry Emma but knowing it would probably be happening again very soon. She couldn't help it after all. O'Malley may have made her promise not to get in fights with Avery for calling him a mudblood, but she was well within her rights to curse him for calling _her_, 'that filthy mudblood's girlfriend'.

Emma continued saying, "You should know by now that responding to his provocations doesn't help anything. It just makes him and everyone else believe that you really are O'Malley's girlfriend."

"First off, you sound like Professor Longbottom during my detentions. Secondly, you know perfectly well that O'Malley's one of my best mates, _not_ my boyfriend," Lyra said forcefully before Emma interrupted with an exasperated, "I know."

Lyra continued as though Emma hadn't interrupted, saying, "And thirdly, it's not a matter of me being called O'Malley's girlfriend. It's him using that filthy word. O'Malley made me swear not to get in fights for Avery calling him that, but that's not stopping me from getting in fights when the insult is directed at me."

"I know. I know. You've told me this before. I just don't like seeing you in detention so much. And it's not making the other girls in our year like you anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Emma started, "you spend all your time with the three best looking blokes in our year and yet don't seem to fancy any of them like the rest of them do. And I know one is your brother but everyone expects you to get with Teddy or O'Malley. And despite O'Malley having a different girlfriend every week, he doesn't really talk to any of them. He just snogs them for a week before moving on. You're the only girl he actually talks to. And Teddy is completely oblivious to how much the girls like him, so he's practically a lost cause. And your brother is incapable of putting two words together in a coherent sentence in front of any girl, excepting you as his sister and me as your friend and the only girl in our year that isn't completely in love with him." Finally seeming to reach a conclusion after listing all this evidence, Emma finished with, "So all the girls are wickedly jealous of you for getting to spend time with and really talk to the best looking blokes in our year."

"Wow. I can't believe you just said all that in one breath."

Emma looked exasperated and possibly capable of murder.

Lyra continued before Emma could do anything about those thoughts. "I know they're jealous. But it's not my fault they aren't capable of acting normal around the boys. I know perfectly well that they're a good looking bunch. I just don't let it affect how I treat them."

"Fine. I give up. You are officially destined to only ever have me as a girl friend while here at Hogwarts."

"And I'm okay with that. I really am."

**Mostly fluff with pretty much nothing happening but it does reveal a few things I thought important, like Lyra's friendship with Emma.**


	9. Leo's Christmas Holidays

**Author's Note: I would like to apologize for the delay in the posting of this chapter. All I can say is, I have a life, two other stories I am writing as well, and a legitimate medical condition that makes typing painful. Beyond that, I will not make any excuses.**

**I also noticed that not everyone read the mini chapters. I do not blame you. Their awfulness makes me want to puke. However, I did not think I could skip from chapter three to this chapter. So, in case you missed it, the point of those mini chapters was to make it clear that: O'Malley is a player, Leo can remember anything, Lyra loves to prank Avery and is completely and utterly ridiculous, Teddy is sweet on Vic and Leo knows it, Teddy loves the kitchens especially when Kreacher pops in to visit, and they are working on learning the castle inside out and backwards.**

Chapter 9 – Leo

Leo's Christmas Holidays

Leo looked around excitedly as he clambered off the train, dragging his trunk behind him and holding his empty owl cage in front, as he had sent his owl, Dumbledore, home ahead of him. He kept looking for his mother as Lyra climbed off the train behind him.

"Have you found her yet?" she asked.

"No. Wait. She's over there," he said, pointing to the far side of the platform.

Hestia hadn't noticed them yet amongst the hoards of students scrambling to meet up with family members and get home for the holidays.

As they got closer, Lyra began to call out, "Mum! Mum! Over here!"

Hestia turned at the sound of Lyra's voice and a huge smile spread across her face. By the time the twins had reached their mother, Leo could see that she was bursting with the excitement of seeing them again. The way she nearly tackled the both of them for hugs reminded him of Lyra at her most excited. He felt a twinge of guilt as he remembered that he hadn't written her as often as he could have. Soon though, he was swept away in the excitement of the hug fest that he had been caught up in.

"Oh! It's so good to see you two again! How was Hogwarts? Not too much trouble from Peeves I hope? Finished all your homework on time? No dangerous pranks?"

Lyra of course, was able to keep up with the fast-paced stream of questions. "Brilliant! Nope. Mostly. Nope."

Leo felt the need to interject, "You only did your homework because I made you. Otherwise you would have never touched it."

She quickly retorted, "It's not like I need to do the work to learn the spells. The exams were so easy."

Rather than listen to them bicker, Hestia interjected, "Well, at least you did it. Now, let's get your stuff together and head home."

Lyra was quick to switch gears. "Woohoo! Home time!"

Leo merely shook his head at her antics and followed their mother off the platform.

XXX

During the car ride home, Leo tuned out as Lyra chattered on about school to their mother. His first thoughts were actually to wonder at the fact he was in a car. Having been mostly separate from the magical world growing up, he had never questioned their ownership of a car. Now however, he was wondering why his mother even knew how to drive. He would have to ask her one day. Though there was never a guarantee that she would answer when the question referenced the past.

He went on to think of holiday plans. Teddy had told them that he would spend the holidays bouncing between his grandmother's house, his godfather's house, and his adopted grandmother's house. Leo thought that it sounded as exhausting as school and was glad that his holidays would be more relaxed than that.

O'Malley on the other hand had said he probably would not be allowed out of his mother's sight. Unlike the rest of them, his parents had not been prepared for sending him off to boarding school and apparently his mother had not liked the idea of him being gone for so much of the year.

Leo was pulled out of his thoughts at his mother's question in response to something Lyra had said. "A Metamorphmagus?"

"Yeah! It's that brilliant? He inherited it from his mother," Lyra explained.

"What did you say this boy's name was?" Leo noticed that their mother looked a bit suspicious.

"Teddy. Teddy Lupin. Why?" Apparently Lyra had picked up on her tone as well.

"Oh, nothing. It's just quite rare. I was curious."

This time Leo spoke up. "Mum. It's not nothing. We can tell. What's bugging you?"

She sighed before responding, "I knew his parents. A long time ago."

This information surprised Leo. Their mother never talked about the past. Never. Whenever they asked, she would always say that the past is past and need not be brought up again. Even Lyra had recognized the significance of what had been revealed and was quiet, mulling it over.

The rest of the car ride was passed in silence. Each member of their small family lost in their own thoughts. At last they reached their destination. They lived in a small house in Horsham with a nicely manicured front lawn and a small front garden. It was not much, but it was home.

XXX

After settling in, which for Leo meant opening his window for when Dumbledore wanted back in and putting his trunk in its spot at the end of his bed, Leo sat down to think. He wanted to talk to Lyra but knew that it would be a while before she was settled in enough to pay attention to what he had to say.

He thought back to what his mother had said. She had known Teddy's parents. This was the first information she had ever shared about her past beyond that she went to Hogwarts and was in Gryffindor. Thinking this, he remembered what the sorting hat had told him back in September.

_Very different from the rest of his family but he made a fine Gryffindor. Much more reckless than you but you have the same bravery and loyalty._

This was the first he had heard of his father. Had Teddy's parents known his father? Did his parents meet at school or afterwards? He really needed to talk to Lyra. She was always a good sound board for ideas when he needed to think things through.

Thinking this, he decided that she had had enough time to settle in and went across the hall to her room. He was in luck and found her aimlessly tossing a Quaffle up in the air as she lay on her bed.

"All settled in, Lyra?"

"Yes, yes. I hurried just for you. I knew you would be wanting to talk about what Mum said."

Leo wasn't surprised that she had known what he was about. The way they knew each other was near akin to Legilimency. "Yes. I was quite surprised that she willing shared something about the past."

Lyra scoffed at him. "And you were so caught up in your shock that you forgot the truly important question to ask in regards to what she said." Upon seeing Leo's raised eyebrow, she continued. "_How_ did she know Teddy's parents?"

Leo sat down on the end of Lyra's bed with a look of deep concentration upon his face. Lyra sat quietly as he began his musings. She knew better than to interrupt his train of thought. "Well, Teddy told us his dad was Gryffindor so maybe that's how Mum knew him. And she met his mum by association? But we don't even know if they were at Hogwarts at the same time… Maybe they didn't meet at Hogwarts at all. Teddy's parents died in the Battle of Hogwarts, maybe they fought in the war together? Had they been members of the Order of the Phoenix?"

Lyra looked up when she heard him say her name.

"Did the Sorting Hat say anything to you when you were being Sorted?"

Lyra looked confused by the abrupt change of subject but answered anyway. "Not much. Just that I had the bravery and recklessness to be a good Gryffindor. It mentioned I was much more reckless than you. Nothing I didn't already know. Why?"

Leo paused for a moment before answering. "It mentioned our father to me. It said that there was much different between us but similarities as well. It said, he was 'very different from the rest of his family but he made a fine Gryffindor'. In the excitement of the start of school, I had forgotten to mention it to you. But then, I was thinking maybe she met our dad at school, since they were both Gryffindors."

"Maybe. They could have met in the Order too. There's no way of knowing. Especially since Mum never confirmed that she was in the Order."

"Let's write a letter to Teddy. He can ask his family about it. Both if Mum was in the Order and if that's how she met his parents."

Lyra quickly agreed and they set about writing their letter to Teddy. As Dumbledore had yet to come back to the house, they used Lyra's owl, Fawkes, to send the letter to Teddy. The name had come about from her coloring. A magnificent Red Owl, native to Madagascar and quite rare, Fawkes was a brilliant orange color with black spots. She stood out but Lyra wouldn't have it any other way. Said Fawkes reminded her of herself.

After doing so, they set their thoughts of their parents' past to the back of their minds. Neither of them had been able to remember exactly where Teddy was at this moment of the holidays and so Fawkes would have to stop at his grandmother's, the Potter Mansion, as well as the Burrow if she could not find him.

XXX

The day after Christmas, Leo and Lyra finally got the response they had been waiting for from Teddy.

_**Dear Leo and Lyra,**_

_**I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon but upon reading your letter, I quickly understood the urgency. Unfortunately, I was unable to have the conversation that was needed to answer your questions until this morning. As everyone spends Christmas night at the Burrow, I was able to talk with Granddad Weasley and Uncle Harry this morning. They already knew a load about you two from my letters home, but I had never mentioned your family situation. I did not feel it appropriate. However, since you wanted answers from them, I felt the need to inform them. They do not have as many answers as you may have wanted but it is still more than you know right now.**_

_**First off, yes, your mother was in the Order. According to Granddad Weasley, she joined the Order shortly after graduating Hogwarts during the First Wizarding War. She survived and returned during the Second War as well. Neither Granddad nor Harry spent much time with her but, from what they knew, she met my parents through the Order. They were also very surprised to hear she had children the same age as me. Apparently none of them had known she was pregnant during the war. They were also unable to shed any light on the mystery of your father. As far as they knew, she had no relationships, but they were both quick to admit that they were not close to her and it was not something she would have wanted broadcasted during the war when any association with Dumbledore or the Order could lead to your death.**_

_**That's all I was able to find out. I hope it helps you in your search. On a happier note, I hope you had a good Christmas with your mum. Mine was chaos as always with so many people under one roof. No honorary family members this year though. That dropped the number of people down to twenty seven. Smallest it's been in years. Write back soon.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Teddy**_

_**P.S. If there's anything else you'd like me to ask, just let me know.**_

After reading Teddy's letter, Leo and Lyra just looked at each other. It was so much more than they had hoped for and yet still so little. It revealed much about their mother's past but nothing about their father. Following some discussion, the twins came to the conclusion that their mother had obviously separated herself from the Order enough that further questions of Teddy's family would be useless. They decided that they would have to ask her themselves.

XXX

The opportunity to confront their mother did not present itself for several days. Due to Lyra's impatience, they decided create an opportunity.

They waited until she had readied herself for bed and was settled in with a book as she was apt to do when not too tired. They then went into her room and crawled into bed on either side of her. She welcomed them gladly, thinking they missed the days when they were of an age where such behavior was still considered acceptable.

Leo was in charge of asking the questions as they had decided to ease into the big questions and Lyra did not have the patience to do such a thing. "Mum?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"We were wondering. Well, after you said you knew Teddy's parents; we wrote him. And he said you were in the Order of the Phoenix together during the war."

"Yes. I was."

"Why did you never tell us that yourself?"

She sighed heavily before continuing. "The war was not a happy time for me. It wasn't for anyone really; but it was very hard for me. Everyone I loved, everyone I cared about, with the exception of my cousin, Gwenog, was lost to me. Some to death. Some to insanity. Some during the First War and some during the Second. I loved all of them dearly. But I had to move on. I had you two to take care of and I couldn't afford to dwell in the past. So I try not to think of it much. I have many good memories of the people I loved, but it is so easy to get caught up in how their happiness was destroyed.

"That kind of loss, that kind of pain, neither of you have ever known. And I would like to keep it that way. You will learn about the Wars in school, but it will be from a more detached point of view than I could ever describe it as. You understand that you cannot judge people based on blood or anything else, and that is enough for me. But I do not think you need to know the pain so many people went through to gain that equality. I just want to protect you."

Leo and Lyra clung to their mother, hugging her, trying to give her some comfort. "We understand Mum. But we want to know. Who in the Order were you close to? Who did you lose?"

She hesitated before answering. "I lost Teddy's parents. And Professor Longbottom? I was friends with his parents. They were tortured into insanity during the First War."

Leo decided now was as good a time as any to bring up their father. "What about our father? Was he in the Order? Did he die in the War? Is that why you do not like to talk about him?"

At the mention of their father, their mother appeared to shut down. She closed up and did not say anything for the longest time. "I think it's past your bedtime. And past mine. I have to get to work in the morning. Go back to your own beds."

Leo recognized that they weren't going to get anything more out of her and headed for the door. Lyra though, was more tenacious.

"But Mum! We want to know! We deserve to know!"

"Go to bed Lyra." Her voice was as cold and hard as steel.

Leo came back to Lyra and grabbed her arm, pulling her gently off the bed, as he muttered in her ear, "Don't push it. She told us enough for now."

Lyra hesitated again before following Leo out the door and into his room. She slumped down on the end of his bed as she said, "Well, that was a waste of time."

"Not necessarily. We know more than we did before. And not just about Mum."

"Really, Leo? What do we know?"

"We know our dad was a Gryffindor. We can assume he is one of the people Mum was talking about that died in the war. He may have even been a member of the Order."

"All right. So we know more than before. But we can't assume that he was in the Order. I mean, she did clam up after you asked if he was, but that wasn't the only question you asked about him. And she always clams up whenever we ask about Dad."

Leo couldn't deny her logic, but he had to remain hopeful. "We still know something about him though. That's more than we knew four months ago. And there's still chance for us to learn more. We just have to be patient."

"You know I'm not good at being patient."

"Well, you'll have to try."

XXX

Despite Lyra's impatience, they decided it was better to let the matter of their father rest for now.

And so the rest of the holidays passed peacefully. They enjoyed the home cooked meals. They enjoyed the privacy of having their own rooms. They enjoyed the peace and quiet of have three people living in a house, rather than a couple hundred in a tower. They enjoyed the warmth of their house, rather than a drafty old castle. And they enjoyed spending time with their mother.

Neither of them had realized quite how much they missed their mother until they had her around again and remembered all the things they did together.

In the chaos of school, they had forgotten about the lullaby she would sing to them every night. They had forgotten about how much fun they had together when she asked for their opinion on stories she was writing for _The Daily Prophet_.

In short, once they had let go of questioning the past, the twins enjoyed a calm, peaceful, and loving holiday at home with their mother, until they had to go back to school.

**Author's Note: There you have it. I hoped you enjoyed it and it was worth the wait. PLEASE REVIEW, it is much appreciated. Also, as you can tell, more has been revealed about their father. Feel free to guess in a review or pm. I haven't decided yet if I'll tell you if you get it right, but I want to make sure I'm not making it too obvious too soon.**

**VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ THIS:  
I have decided to change the name of this story as its cliché-ness is killing me every time I think of it. So, after posting the next chapter, I will be changing the title from "Who's Your Daddy?" to "The Lives and Lies of Leo and Lyra". And yes, it is based off "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore", but I felt it very apropos. However, I did not come up with the idea myself, so all my thanks to the lovely purebloodelf who came up with the idea!**

**And remember, guesses of their father's identity are more than welcome!**


	10. Teddy's Christmas Holidays

**Author's Note: Here you go! Another chapter very soon to make up for going so long without updating. (Yes, I know that sentence is grammatically horrible) I apologize if there is any redundancy with the letters and such between Teddy and the twins.**

Chapter 10 – Teddy

Teddy's Christmas Holidays

Teddy was first of his friends to climb off the Hogwarts Express after it pulled into King's Cross Station. He quickly bid them farewell, seeing his grandmother waiting for him on the platform. Known to the world as Andromeda Tonks, Grandma Dromeda was a tall woman with light brown hair and dark, kind eyes. Teddy however was not tricked by those kind eyes and moved to tidy his hair, knowing she was a stickler for cleanliness. As he reached her, he was pulled into a tight hug that he returned eagerly. He always missed his grandmother when they were apart for long periods of time. Going off to school had, of course, been the longest he'd ever gone without seeing her.

"Hello dear," she said, brushing his hair out of his face. "How are you?"

"I'm doing famously, Grandma Dromeda."

"Alright. Let's get you home." She quickly shrunk his trunk and put it in her pocket before extending her arm for him to take. He grabbed on tightly before she spun on her heel and he felt the tight squeeze that came from apparating. As he felt the pressure release, he opened his eyes to see his childhood home. It looked much the same except with snow on the ground, which obviously had not been there when he left in September.

As they headed inside, Teddy asked, "So, what's the plan for this holiday season?"

"Well, you'll spend the first couple of days here with me of course. Then Christmas Eve will be at Potter Manor, before heading to the Burrow on Christmas morning. No honorary family is coming this year so we'll all be spending the night. And the rest of the holidays will be split between here and Potter Manor, though Molly would of course love to have you spend more time at the Burrow."

Teddy smiled at that. Grandmum Weasley loved to spoil her grandchildren and had always considered Teddy to be one of them. "I think I can manage a visit at some point between Christmas and New Year's. And aren't she and Granddad Weasley in charge of chaperoning the kids' party this year?"

"Yes. They offered so that all the parents could have a break."

* * *

And so the holidays went. Teddy spent the first couple of days at home with Grandma Dromeda. He enjoyed the calm before the storm that he knew would come at Potter Manor and the Burrow.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, as Teddy was packing his bag for the next two nights, he was surprised to hear an owl pecking at his window. Going over, he immediately recognized Lyra's bright orange owl, Fawkes. After untying the scroll of parchment from her leg, Fawkes flew off. About to read the letter, he paused in the middle of unrolling it as he heard his grandmother call up the stairs.

"You must hurry Teddy. Harry and Ginny were expecting us to be there already. And you know how the kids get when you keep them waiting."

At that last comment, Teddy remembered the mass tantrum that had been thrown the last time he'd been late getting to the Potter's. With that in mind, he quickly rolled back up the parchment and stuffed it in his bag before heading downstairs to floo to Potter Manor.

* * *

Caught up in the excitement of seeing his godfather's family again, Teddy mostly forgot about the letter he had received and spent the day playing with James, Al, and Lily. James was almost five and a wild boy that needed constant supervision. Al on the other hand was quiet most of the time, unless of course, he was around James. Despite being only three, he always tried to keep up with James and often ended up getting hurt in the process.

And then there was Lily. Not quite two but she already had everybody in the family wrapped around her little finger. No one seemed able to say no to her. And yet she was not a spoiled brat. At least, not yet. She only used her powers for the good of always being held and never having to walk anywhere on her own.

For Teddy, this meant that Christmas Eve was spent trying to wrangle James and Al while carrying Lily around piggyback style.

* * *

Late that night, after the traditional feast that Kreacher had helped Aunt Ginny make, Teddy collapsed into bed ready for sleep before remembering the letter that he had hastily stuffed in his bag that morning. Climbing out of bed, he rummaged through his bag before finding the scroll of parchment. He unrolled it and read.

_**Dear Teddy,**_

_**This is Leo writing but Lyra is here as well. As much as we wish this could be a simple 'how's the holidays' letter, it isn't.**_

_**While talking to our mother, she revealed something that we thought would be of interest to you. Apparently, she used to know your parents. She did not say any more than that and we did not want to question her more for fear she would close up. She rarely ever mentions anything from the past so this revelation came as a great surprise.**_

_**We, Lyra and I, were talking, and thought you may be able to help us. You said you would be spending time with the Weasleys and Potters during the holidays and we thought they might have the answers we are looking for. If you could ask for us, we would greatly appreciate it.**_

_**The first thing to ask would be if our mother was in the Order of the Phoenix. We believe she was but she has never confirmed it. We thought this could be how she met your parents. Besides finding out how she met your parents, we also thought your family might know who our father might be. She was obviously pregnant around the same time as your mother and so they might know something about any possible relationships she may have been in during that time.**_

_**Anything you can find out would be much appreciated.**_

_**Besides that, how are your holidays going?**_

_**Love,**_

_**Leo and Lyra**_

Upon finishing the letter, Teddy sat back in bed and began to think. This was indeed news to him. No one in his family had ever mentioned a woman with the last name of Jones when talking about his parents. Maybe though, if they only knew each other through the Order, that would make sense. After all, while they had many stories about his parents, they preferred not to talk about the war. He understood, but he would have to ask, for Leo and Lyra's sake. He could not let them down. Not when he knew how much they hated not knowing about their father.

* * *

The next day however, did not present any opportunities to ask Harry or Ginny about it. Soon after waking up, he was rushed through the fireplace to get to the Burrow for gift unwrapping.

Arriving at the Burrow, he was immediately enveloped in a tight hug from Grandmum Weasley before being swarmed by the children that had already arrived. Despite having no honorary family members around, there would still be a total of twenty seven people by the time everyone arrived, with twelve of them being under the age of ten.

Once everyone had arrived, the gift distribution began. While Teddy was not a greedy boy, he did enjoy the large numbers of presents that one got when part of such a large family. Amongst his pile that he readily tore into in a very Weasley fashion was his favorite present every year. This year, his Weasley jumper was a vibrant Gryffindor scarlet with a gold T on the front.

While there was nothing scheduled for between gift unwrapping and Christmas dinner, Teddy was still never with a free moment. He loved all his cousins dearly but they were very good at monopolizing his time and making sure he did not have a moment alone with any of the adults of the family.

Christmas dinner was hectic as usual with the room and table magically extended to fit all twenty seven of them for the meal.

By the end of the night, Teddy had given up hope of being able to ask any questions that day but decided he would just have to get up a little early the next morning in the hopes that he would be able catch some adults up earlier before all the children finally rolled out of bed.

* * *

The next morning, Teddy woke early and quietly snuck out of the room he was sharing with James, Al, Fred, and Louis. When he reached the kitchen, he found Granddad Weasley and Harry nursing cups of tea as they talked quietly.

Harry was the first to notice Teddy standing in the doorway. "Teddy!" He exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing up so early? We were expecting all the kids to be in bed for another couple of hours."

"Err. I actually needed to talk to you."

Harry looked surprised at Teddy's hesitance. "You know you can talk to me about anything."

Granddad Weasley also spoke up, saying, "If you'd like me to leave, I can."

Teddy was quick to reply, "Actually, I think you could help me too."

"Alright then. What can we help you with?"

Teddy began, "You know my friends, Leo and Lyra?"

Harry answered, "Yes. You've mentioned them in your letters. Twins aren't they?"

"Yeah. Err. They were hoping you'd be able to answer some questions for them."

Granddad was surprised. "What kind of questions?"

"Well. Their mum doesn't ever really talk about the past or their father. They don't even know his name. But the other day, she mentioned that she used to know my parents."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "Who is their mother?"

"Her name is Hestia Jones. They think she might have been a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

Granddad was the one to answer this time. "Oh yes, she was. She joined right out of Hogwarts during the First Wizarding War. She survived of course, unlike many in the first Order and joined back up when it was restarted during the Second War. I was never close to her but I assume that is how she met your parents."

Harry continued. "I think I only really interacted with her once. She was one of the Order members who took my aunt, uncle, and cousin to safety near the end of the War. And I don't remember ever seeing her pregnant, although she must have been, around the same time as your mum."

At that last comment, Granddad spoke up again. "Me neither. I don't remember her ever even mentioning any men in her life."

Teddy was a bit disappointed at that. "So you have no idea who their father might be?"

Harry and Granddad exchanged a glance before both shaking their head in the negative.

After a moment of thought, Harry spoke up again. "It really doesn't come as a surprise to me though. Like we've said, neither of us was very close to her and a relationship is not something you would want broadcast during that time. It's one thing with your parents, who were both Order members, but if their father wasn't… even the smallest hint of an association with the Order could have led to your death back then."

Teddy sighed. "Well, thanks anyway. It's more than they knew before, I think, and they'll be grateful. I'll go write them now with the information before the rest of the kids wake up and swarm me again." He smiled at the thought of that. He really did enjoy spending time with his cousins. Even if they weren't really his cousins.

* * *

Teddy headed home with Grandma Dromeda that night and was able to enjoy the peace and quiet again. The rest of his holidays consisted of spending time with Grandma Dromeda, the Potters, and he even manage to squeeze in another visit to the Burrow.

Then came the final big event of the holidays. New Year's Eve.

Every year, the kids had their own party. The way the adults described it, it was so they wouldn't be bored at the adult party. Teddy however was still under the impression that it was just mass babysitting as one or two adults always stayed to "supervise". This year, it was the grandparents' turn so Granddad and Grandmum Weasley would be the ones staying with the children at Potter Manor for the party.

The kids' party always included the honoraries as well as the official family members, which this year meant seventeen kids besides Teddy, ranging from Hugo, who was only 18 months old, to Victoire, who was 9.

Teddy was happy to hear that besides the traditional Weasley Wizarding Wheezes firework display, courtesy of Uncle George, they were going to have access to the indoor pool.

* * *

Teddy's favorite part of the night though, had nothing to do with the party and everything to do with a certain girl.

Part way through the night, Vic approached Teddy with a small box in her hands. "Hi Teddy."

Teddy looked up at her and smiled. "Hi Vic. What's that you've got there?"

She hesitated before saying in a bit of a rush, "I, err, wanted to give you a special Christmas present but it was so chaotic at the Burrow and I haven't seen you since and so this was my only other chance before you go back to school and I wanted to give it to you in person."

When she paused to take a breath, Teddy cut in. "Me too." He pulled out a box from his pocket and handed it to her.

She took it as she passed him the box she'd been holding and opened it to find a necklace inside. The pendant was a small teddy bear in the exact turquoise shade that Teddy normally kept his hair. She gazed at it in awe before looking back at Teddy.

"So you won't forget me while I'm away at school."

She gave him a brilliant smile. "I could never forget you. Now open mine."

He opened the box she had given him to find a miniature quaffle inside.

"It's for your bedside table. I didn't think you'd want to wear it as a necklace after all. It's so you remember that I may be completely horrible at Quidditch, but I'll always be willing to throw a quaffle around with you, if you ask."

Teddy couldn't help laughing a bit at that. She really was a horrible Quidditch player. "Thank you. I'll see it every night before I go to bed and think of you."

* * *

And so Teddy's Christmas holiday had its high points, but sadly had to end on the low point of leaving Victoire behind as he again went back to school with his friends.

**Author's Note: So, I don't think there's any new information to help with the guessing, but they're still welcome. And of course, even if you don't have a guess, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	11. Thoughts of a Mother

**Author's Note: So. I wasn't planning on posting this chapter this soon but I thought I****'d give it to you now so you can think over the new hints and come up with some good new guesses. I must also warn you that I have no clue when the next chapter is going to be up. I do know that it will be very long and go through the end of their first year though. Hopefully that'll make up for the wait. If any of you lovely readers of mine would like the next chapter sooner and has read _Jane Eyre_, you are welcome to help me with my summer homework so that I can get back to writing as soon as possible.**

Chapter 11 – Hestia

Thoughts of a Mother

Hestia sighed as she watched the train pull out of the station. She would never get used to the sight of her babies going away without her. It wasn't that she hadn't had to go places without them before. Her cousin, Gwenog, was always willing to babysit when Hestia had to travel for her job at _The Daily Prophet_. But she always disliked her children being off by themselves.

And now there were off at Hogwarts, where some of her happiest memories had been. And some of her worst. She had never returned to the castle after the memorial for the battle. She couldn't be in the castle without seeing her dead friends lying there, never to smile again.

At least _he_ hadn't died there. At least she hadn't had to see it. See him. She didn't think she would have been able to handle that. And then to find out a month later that she was pregnant. In the middle of a war.

She had been lucky that things turned out as well as they did. Except now they were curious about their father. She had known the day would come. The day when she could no longer put them off and postpone talking about the past. She had just hoped that day would be later. She wanted them to be older. More able to cope with the reality of who he was.

If only they didn't look so much like their father…

**Author's Note: Super short but please review! Guesses welcome!**


	12. Life Goes On And Brings With It Birthday

**Author's Note: Here you go! I stayed up late doing this just for you. More specifically, it is for my repeat reviewers: purebloodelf, myhorserockyrocks, CherryCupcakeBacon, amama123, and my newest reviewer, Lizaluvsdoggies. I would also like to thank counting caelan for making me laugh so hard with your guess.**

**Warning: This will probably be the last chapter for a couple of weeks. After this, I really do have to do my summer homework and then I am going to be working on my other stories that I haven't updated for a while. Feel free to read those while you wait. *wink wink nudge nudge***

* * *

Chapter 12 – O'Malley

Life Goes On… And Brings With It Birthdays

Sunday, January 3, 2010

When it came time to return to school, O'Malley found himself arriving on the platform almost too late to catch the train. Luckily, he could move fast and was on in a blink of the eye before it started to pull away from platform. He really shouldn't have been surprised that he was so late, what with the tantrum that Rissy threw that morning. He dragged his trunk down the aisle before finally coming to the compartment that held his friends. He slid the door open to find himself being tackled onto the top of his trunk by Lyra.

"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!"

"Ow, Lyra. That's my ear you're yelling into. And my ribcage that you're sitting on top of. Get off and I'll tell you."

She reluctantly clambered off before pulling him up and helping him store his trunk in the compartment.

Leo was the next to speak. "I apologize on my sister's behalf, seeing as how it'll be a miracle if you ever hear an apology come out of her own mouth. We were however getting worried. You almost missed the train."

"Don't I know it. Rissy threw a tantrum this morning. Put us way behind schedule. I think that was her purpose actually. She has yet to come to grips with the fact that she's not going to see me for most of the year anymore."

Teddy spoke up. "Rissy?"

"Oh yeah. I don't think I've told you about her. She's my little sister. She's eight now and a pain in the arse but I love her anyway. We've always been close and she didn't take well to me going off to boarding school. I'm really hoping she's magic though. She would love it here. She spent the entire holidays reading every single one of my textbooks cover to cover and bombarding me with questions about school. She even tried to ask me about the theory behind Transfigurations that we aren't supposed to learn until the end of the year."

It was Lyra's turn to talk again. He was honestly surprised she'd stayed silent as long as she had. "That's brilliant. I wish I had a little sister. I could mold her into a miniature of me." After that comment, O'Malley could've sworn he heard Leo mutter under his breath, "Like the world needs more of you to deal with." Lyra however either didn't hear, or at least didn't care, because she continued on to ask, "Was your mum as bad as you thought she'd be?"

"Worse. I swear, she barely let me out of her sight all break. She really doesn't like have me gone for so much of the year. Luckily, after she heard about all the things I've learned how to do so far, she couldn't keep me from coming back. What about you lot? Anything interesting happen over the holidays?"

They all exchanged a look before Leo spoke up, explaining everything they'd found out about their parents.

All he could say was "Wow. So what are you going to do now?"

"Nothing. At least, not until we're home again for the summer. There's no chance of her answering any of our questions unless we ask in person."

Teddy, it seemed, didn't like the somber attitude because the next thing he said was, "Let's talk about something happier. Guess what?"

Lyra spoke up quickly. "Your mum was really an alien who came here from outer space and metamorphmagi aren't really from this planet but you were able to inherit the ability from your mother and now her alien relatives have found out about your existence and tried to kidnap you over the holidays to take you back home to their planet with them?"

We all burst out laughing at that. In between laughing, Teddy was able to get out, "How on earth do you come up with ideas like that?"

Leo was the one to answer. "Haven't you figured it out yet? _Our_ father is from outer space and that's why Lyra is so weird." That caused another round of laughter after Lyra smacked Leo upside the head.

"Okay, okay," Teddy said as he finally managed to stop laughing. "For real this time. Professor McGonagall's rule about my hair was only for the first term of school. So I can change it back to my normal hair color now."

O'Malley was the first to ask, "Then why haven't you yet?"

"I was thinking I'd surprise everybody at breakfast tomorrow morning."

Lyra smiled mischievously at that. "I would pay to see their faces."

"Luckily, you don't have to. You just have to manage to get out of bed at a decent time."

That set off another round of laughter.

* * *

The next morning, the boys trudged downstairs in time for the very start of breakfast, still too tired to be eager about the responses to Teddy's new hair. However, upon reaching the common room, they were shocked awake by the sight of Lyra standing there, ready for the day and bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Oh, BearyPoo! I absolutely love your hair like that!"

Teddy cringed at the sound of the nickname that Lyra had yet to give up on. "Thanks Lyra. Now let's go see what everyone else thinks."

O'Malley watched as she skipped towards the portrait hole. She really was quite cute. Not that he'd ever be stupid enough to admit it out loud.

When they finally reached the Entrance Hall, Lyra stood back to let Teddy enter the Great Hall first. Lyra barely managed to contain herself from shouting out to draw attention to them. Not that it was necessary. The bright turquoise of Teddy's hair had drawn all eyes to them. Many of them were shocked speechless while a few mutters of "brilliant!" could be heard pass through the students. Pretending as though they had not noticed, they headed for their usual seats at the Gryffindor table. As they began to dish up food for themselves, the silence actually managed to become more profound. Looking up, it was clear why. Professor McGonagall was headed straight for them.

When she reached them, Teddy had the nerve to grin cheekily and say, "Hullo, Auntie Minnie. How were your holidays? We missed you at the Burrow this Christmas."

"Five points from Gryffindor. I am the Headmistress of this school and I am to be addressed with respect. Now, if you would please tell me what on earth you were thinking making your hair that color."

Teddy didn't seem to have the nerve to address her so disrespectfully again after the loss of points. He didn't however back down. "Your rule was that I was to pick a more sedate color for the first term of school. It is now the second term. As such, your rule no longer applies." O'Malley thought Professor McGonagall looked rather murderous but Teddy continued anyways. "If you'd like, I could pick something a bit more, shall I say, house appropriate?" He screwed up his face in concentration as he turned his hair a brilliant scarlet with shimmery gold tips.

"Detention, Mr. Lupin. 7 o'clock tonight with Mr. Filch. And unless you wish for more, you will choose one color and stick to it." This didn't seem to faze him and he simply nodded before changing his hair back to blue. The Professor continued. "I will also being writing your Grandmother and godparents about this." _That_ made Teddy's face pale.

"_Please,_ Auntie Minnie. Aunt Ginny will murder me. You know she will. I promise not to mess around, just, _please_, don't write them."

The desperate look on his face seemed to reach into a heart that O'Malley hadn't thought existed because, after trying to stay stern for a moment, she finally relented and said, "Alright, Mr. Lupin. I will not inform your family. However, I must remind you again of what I told you before you started at Hogwarts. Here, I am the Headmistress and while you may address me as you wish outside of school, here, you must address me befitting my position. I will not remind you again."

Relief washed over Teddy's features as he said, "Thank you, Professor McGonagall."

* * *

The rest of breakfast passed quite calmly until the appearance of Lyra's roommates. They all stared in shock, none of them seeming to be able to put two words together. Finally, it was Lyra's friend, Emma, who approached them.

"Teddy, what did you do to your hair?"

His cheek seemed to come back full force. "Didn't you know? I'm a metamorphmagus."

Her eyebrows shot up. "You're pulling my leg. Lyra, what'd he really do?"

"He's telling the truth Emma." Her excitement seeped back into her voice while still keeping it quiet enough to not attract attention. "You should've seen it! McGonagall came over to tell him off and he offered to change it to something more house appropriate! Made it red with gold tips! Got a detention for it, but her face was totally worth it."

Emma looked at Teddy with a newfound respect. After all, not everyone had the guts to talk back to the Headmistress. Especially not amongst the first years. She nodded thoughtfully before heading back to the other girls to tell them what she'd found out.

* * *

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Two weeks later, O'Malley was rudely awakened to find Lyra sitting on his legs, staring at him.

"What? No yelling to wake me up?"

"I thought I'd be nice for once. Appreciate it while it lasts. Breakfast is done already so I was actually wondering if you would like to come to the kitchens with me."

"Sure. Just let me get dressed." After getting Lyra off him and pulling his clothes out of his trunk, he stared at her, waiting for her to turn around so he could change.

She just stared back until she finally realized, "Oh! You don't want me to look. Well, too bad. I want to see what it is that makes all the other girls in our year swoon over you."

"Sorry, but I value my life. And I would no longer possess it if Leo caught me changing in front of you." With that, he went into the bathroom to change, making sure to lock the door behind him.

* * *

Later, on their way down to the kitchens, they talked of random nonsense until a sudden realization hit O'Malley. "We haven't had a run-in with Avery since before the holidays."

No later had he said that then Avery popped up in front of them, sneering as he said, "Oh? Is the filthy mudblood off for a date with his dirty slag of a girlfriend?"

For once, O'Malley almost attacked him as well but managed to come to his senses soon enough to restrain Lyra as Avery walked away, laughing.

Finally, Lyra stopped struggling and O'Malley felt that it was safe to let her go. "I don't like the things he says about you anymore than you do, but I refuse to let you get anymore detentions for attacking him. That's as good as saying he's won."

"He can call me a slag all he likes! That's not why I was so angry! You can't just call a muggleborn that! We've explained this to you. If a professor had heard he would have points taken away and detention for it. It's my duty to take him down a notch."

"I. Don't. Care. You are not to fight him for me. End of story." Hoping to make her forget how angry she was, he added, "Let's get down to the kitchens. I'm starving."

"FOOD!"

* * *

Upon reaching the kitchens, Lyra immediately found her mouth too full of food to talk and as such left O'Malley to his own thoughts.

As he thought, his mind kept circling back to Avery calling Lyra his girlfriend and what she'd said that morning when he wanted to change. Distracted by the food, he was able to stare at her without getting caught. Looking at her, he could see the beauty in her, despite being only eleven. After all, he saw the beauty in all the other girls he, well, he didn't really _date_ them per se. But she had more than the beauty that his girls had. She had a confidence about her that most others didn't. Sadly, he knew it would never be an option for them to be together, seeing as how she'd probably kill him for trying to make her one of his girls. That is, if Leo didn't get to him first for messing with his sister.

When Lyra was finally done eating, the first words out of her mouth were, "I didn't actually ask you here just because. I was wondering if you would help me with something."

O'Malley immediately became wary and asked, "What do you need help with?"

"Don't look at me like that! It's nothing bad. It's just, Leo's birthday is coming up on the first and I wanted to do something special for him."

"You do know it's your own birthday too, which makes anything you do self serving."

"Alright. I admit it. I want to embarrass him like mad in front of the whole school. Our birthdays have always just been us and Mum and we never even celebrated them when we were little. I want to do something big for our first birthday with our friends."

O'Malley deliberated for a moment before finally agreeing to help her with her plans. Sadly though, those plans ended up involving several hours in the library, a part of the castle neither of them particularly liked, as they looked up spells that would do what they wanted.

* * *

Monday, February 1, 2010

O'Malley was woken up on the first day of February by the sound of Lyra screaming at the top of her lungs while standing on Leo's bed, "WAKE UP LEO! DO YOU KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS? IT'S OUR BIRTHDAY! SO GET UP!"

O'Malley watched as Leo masterfully swept Lyra off his bed with his feet, making her land on the floor without any injuries, before rolling over and going back to sleep.

He couldn't help but laugh. "Had a little practice dealing with this sort of situation, have you?"

"Sadly, more than I would like," came the muffled reply from beneath the pile of blankets. He was not however off the hook. Teddy and O'Malley both watched in shock as Lyra bodily pulled Leo out of bed and tossed him on the ground.

"Get dressed! You have ten minutes before I expect all three of you ready in the common room to head to breakfast! What are you looking at? Get your butts moving!" And with that, Lyra flounced out of the room, looking quite girly for a moment.

As requested, all three of the boys trudged downstairs ten minutes later to find Lyra bouncing off the walls waiting for them. She grabbed Leo and started dragging him towards the portrait hole the minute he got off the staircase. O'Malley and Teddy followed quickly, not wanting to be left behind and miss out on the embarrassment that Lyra was sure to heap upon Leo that day.

And embarrassment there was. O'Malley had known what was coming as he had helped set it up, but even he was a bit surprised by the boom that went off before an enormous banner reading "HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEO!" was unfurled above the Gryffindor table and balloons seemingly appearing from nowhere to float up towards the banner before popping and showering confetti over everything.

Once the balloons were done popping, Lyra and O'Malley drug Leo onto the top of the Gryffindor table and then magically amplified their own voices before singing Happy Birthday at the top of their lungs.

While singing, O'Malley could see that Leo looked quite murderous at the moment while Teddy was nearly falling over, he was laughing so hard and the professors simply looked on in shock.

Upon their completion of the song, Lyra and O'Malley bowed before clambering off the table to face the irate Professor McGonagall.

"Hello Professor! Did you like the show?" Lyra asked.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for disrupting breakfast so spectacularly." Lyra's face fell. "And I think you and Mr. O'Malley here are both deserving of twenty points each _to_ Gryffindor for extraordinary spellwork. Now, if only you would put this much effort into your schoolwork, Miss Jones."

Lyra's jaw had dropped in shock. It was unbelievable that the stiff Professor McGonagall had _given_ them points for what they had done. There had even been a bit of an upturn on the edge of her lips by the end that could have almost been mistaken for a hint of a smile. He looked to see Teddy laughing at the looks on their faces.

"If you'd asked, I could have told you that Auntie Minnie wouldn't get you in trouble for what you did. She does have an appreciation for good spellwork after all."

* * *

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Nearly three weeks later, O'Malley was met with a similar fate at breakfast for his own twelfth birthday. However, Lyra felt that, since he already knew what to expect and wouldn't be embarrassed by it, there was need to get a cake from the house elves specially for smashing in his face at breakfast.

* * *

Monday, April 19, 2010

Nearly a month after O'Malley's birthday, the banner and balloons were produced once more for Teddy's own birthday. From what O'Malley saw, it seemed as though things like this were a regular occurrence for birthdays in his family. Though, from what O'Malley had learned about Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, it actually made quite a lot of sense.

* * *

Easter Holidays 2010

The Easter Holidays found the four students remaining at Hogwarts so as to start studying for their final exams. At least, that's what they told their parents. In actuality, they were using the freedom to explore the school at their pleasure.

One afternoon during the holidays found them slumped down in a secret passageway after running away from Peeves, who had been wreaking havoc near the Astronomy tower.

Suddenly, Teddy's head popped up from his knees, where he had been resting it. "I know what we need to check out."

Lyra was quick to catch his tone of excitement and asked, "What?"

"Have any of you ever heard of the Room of Requirement? Also known as the Come and Go Room?"

Leo, Lyra, and O'Malley all glanced at each other before shaking their heads no.

"It's something my family has told me stories about. They're not sure if it still works because it was damaged during the Battle of Hogwarts, but I thought we should go check it out anyway. If it still works, the Room is capable of producing anything you want, _becoming_ anything you want."

Lyra was especially excited now. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go! Where is it?"

"It's located on the seventh floor in the left corridor, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls how to do ballet."

And so they headed off until they reached the tapestry that Teddy had described.

O'Malley watched as Teddy paced back and forth down the corridor three times before a door began to materialize out of the stone wall. They each followed Teddy through the door to find the room full of WWW joke products.

"Wicked! Uncle George might be a bit mad though if he finds out people can get his stuff for free if they know about this place."

Lyra was already running around checking out all the things she hadn't seen before.

Leo was just staring in awe.

O'Malley had the thought to ask, "Why joke products?"

"Oh. Because this room is right up George's alley. Would've made obtaining supplies for his joke products much easier if he'd known about it before his seventh year."

"Well. Let's see what else the room can do."

The four friends spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the Room of Requirement changing it every few minutes, just because they could.

* * *

June 2010

Soon enough, exams were over, the school year was done, and the four friends found themselves on the Hogwarts Express once again, riding home for the summer.

As they sat in their compartment and talked, they all swapped stories about what they would be doing that summer.

Teddy would be bouncing between his grandmother's house, Potter Manor, and the Burrow, trying to accommodate all his many relatives while he was home.

O'Malley was simply going to relax and enjoy not having any schoolwork to worry about. He was also going to be catching up with Rissy because, despite how obnoxious she could be, he loved her with all his heart and really did miss her when he was away at school.

First and foremost, Leo and Lyra were planning to try and find out more about their father.

Finally, before the train pulled into King's Cross Station, they all had decided that they would write each other as much as possible that summer with O'Malley borrowing Dumbledore or Fawkes if necessary, and they were going to do everything they could to get together that summer.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yes, I know, Teddy's got a bit of cheek in him after all. Not a complete softie. I blame George. He's a horrible influence on children.**

**I hope you liked the insight into O'Malley's thoughts regarding girls and Lyra in particular. You may all thank purebloodelf for my including that.**

**I think the birthday celebrations were quite up Lyra's alley, don't you?**

**Ah, the Room of Requirement. I know that people often feel that the Fiendfyre should have permanently broken it, but I love the Room too much to do that to it.**

**So, this chapter was mostly fluff to end the school year, but I hope you still enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you think. All you have to say is if you like it or not, nothing deep and soul searching.**


	13. The Happenings of The Summer

Chapter 13

The Happenings of The Summer

The summer before their second year at Hogwarts was fairly uneventful. They spent time with family, did their summer homework, discovered they had gotten all O's on their first year exams, and wrote letters to their friends daily.

The one event that stood out was their trip to Diagon Alley. Unbeknownst of the adults in their lives, all four friends had conspired to go to Diagon Alley for school supplies on the same day. Thinking back, one of them might have realized how pointless the secrecy was, but no one did when the plans were being made. After all, when you are twelve, you think it's easier to sneak behind your parents' backs than to chance asking them and being refused.

And so, on a certain day in August, Leo could be found walking beside his mother as Lyra ran ahead, darting from store front to store front. Even though they had been here before, Lyra was extra hyper from being cooped up in the house all summer. Admittedly, it wasn't much different from their life before Hogwarts, but now they knew exactly what they were missing. Leo though was content to spend the time chatting with his mother; because however much he denied it, he was a mama's boy and had missed her desperately while away at school. Of course they had written letters back and forth throughout the school year, but it wasn't quite the same as her being there in person.

As planned, O'Malley and his family had already met up with Teddy and his godfather, Harry, and were headed for the same store as the Jones, Flourish and Blotts. Their group was the first to arrive and the children loitered near the door as the adults went a bit further in. Rissy, O'Malley's little sister, could be seen bouncing up and down as she looked at the magical books surrounding her and interrogated Teddy about the wizarding world. O'Malley watched this scene with amusement as they waited for Leo and Lyra to show up. He loved how excited his sister got about magic. He adored her and sincerely hoped she was magical too, so as to be able to come to Hogwarts in a few years. While he had not seen any magical signs from her, Teddy had said that they sometimes didn't appear until as last as nine years old.

Looking up from the interactions between Rissy and Teddy, O'Malley saw Lyra ran right past them in her excitement. Leo, on the other hand, sedately walked in and went directly up to Teddy, pulling him into a quick 'man' hug, before doing the same to O'Malley. While it was not appropriate for boys to admit to missing one another, the occasional man-hug was suitable, especially after long periods apart. "How have your summers gone?"

Even as Teddy opened his mouth to speak, O'Malley was the one to excitedly answer first, "I've been learning how to play keeper with—"

He was cut off abruptly as Lyra tackled him. "SweetValley! I missed you!" After all, it was completely acceptable for extreme displays of emotion to be shown by those of the female species. No boy would ever be stupid enough to say girls were more emotional to Lyra's face though.

He laughed. "I can tell."

Rissy stood in the background, silently observing the dynamics between her brother and his friends. It was an interesting thing to behold as he had never had any friends in primary school.

Teddy was quick to exclaim, "What about me?" He put on a mock offended face at Lyra's lack of enthusiasm to see him. In reality, he knew she would have gotten to him once she was finished thoroughly embarrassing O'Malley in front of his little sister.

At Teddy's words, Lyra just as quickly extricated herself from O'Malley's arms and launched herself at him. She stopped suddenly as she heard a deep chuckle coming from behind him. She looked up to find the legendary Harry Potter laughing at her antics. She grinned, unashamed at being seen at her craziest by the most famous man in the wizarding world.

"Hi! I'm Lyra Jones." She was never one to be shy, not even around a legend.

"I guessed. Teddy's told me all about you." He smiled down at her, thinking how much she reminded him of the Weasley twins.

"Don't believe everything you're told," she replied in a singsong voice.

"Oh? So you didn't set off a banner, balloons and confetti in the Great Hall at breakfast for your birthdays?"

She sighed, pretending to be down-hearted. "It wasn't balloons _and_ confetti. It was balloons popping and _showering_ confetti. There's a _difference_." She added some sass at the end to make everyone laugh at her 'attitude'.

Throughout this exchange, Hestia stood silently off to the side, observing the scene unfolding before her. Looking at the lack of recognition on Harry's face, she thanked Merlin and God for Harry's cluelessness; he really wouldn't have been able to kill Voldemort if not for Hermione. When she had seen him standing there, she had been sure he was going to recognize the twins. After all, they did look just like their father. But he showed to no sign of seeing the resemblance.

Distracted by the many books she could see, Rissy wandered off through the store, dragging her parents behind her. As the children engaged in their own conversation, Harry left them to catch up as he headed for Hestia.

"Hestia Jones! It's been ages. How have you been?" He had known she was the twins' mother but it was still a shock for him to see her in person after all these years. He had never even been able to thank her for protecting his relatives during the last year of the war; as soon as he could after the war was over, he had looked her up, but she was nowhere to be found.

She shrugged. "Alright. It's been a bit lonely with the twins off at Hogwarts now." She was not, after all, too eager to engage him in a conversation that might somehow lead to him connecting the dots in his mind and realizing who the twins' father was.

He smiled. "I wish I could say I understand but the kids are still years from being old enough for Hogwarts." He paused for a moment before asking, "Is their father not around?"

She paused upon hearing his question. If she revealed too much, it made it all the more likely that he would discover who he was. In the end however, she decided to go with the easy route. She gave him a sad smile. "No. He died before they were born."

Harry nodded sadly, thinking of Remus and Tonks as he glanced over at Teddy. They had all lost so many in the war. He for one had never expected to actually have to take on any real responsibility for the care of Teddy. He had thought that Remus and Tonks would make it through the war for sure. But he'd been wrong, and he had become a surrogate father at the age of eighteen.

Hestia noticed the direction of his gaze and became lost in her own memories. She had been good friends with Remus for years and when Tonks had entered his life, she had been welcomed into Hestia's heart as well. Their deaths had nearly pushed her over the edge. She was the last. Every one of her friends had died in the wars. For a while she had questioned why she was the one spared. And then she would look at the twins and remember why she had to keep getting up every morning, no matter how much it hurt to go on with life.

Each lost in their own contemplations of the war, they did not realize that the children had heard her comment and had stopped their conversation to stare at each other. They seemed paralyzed with shock at what she had revealed. And willingly at that.

Teddy was the first to move, glancing at Harry to ensure his inattention, before leading the others further in the store. He wove through the bookcases until they reached a spot where they could talk freely with no fear of being overheard.

"Did you know that?" His question was directed at Leo, who appeared to be the more composed of the two for the moment.

"No. We didn't."

* * *

**Author's Note: Mwahaha… So? What'd you think? I apologize for the delay. All I have to say is that if you want to hate on someone, hate on my teachers. And read my other stories when you get bored waiting.**


	14. Quidditch, Christmas, and School?

**Author's Note: I am dreadfully sorry for the long wait, but this chapter is a freaking monster that should hopefully make up for me going so long in between updates.**

* * *

Chapter 14

Quidditch, Christmas, and… School?

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

After the incident at Flourish & Blotts, the new information was added to their list of clues about their father. However, they were no closer to discovering his identity.

And so it was with mixed emotions that they boarded the Hogwarts' Express on September 1st. They were disappointed to not have learned more over the summer, but, at the same time, they were overjoyed to finally be able to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Personally, Lyra was sure that there was no possibility they wouldn't make the team. Leo, on the other hand, was more reserved. He knew they were good and worked together seamlessly, but they were young and smaller than the average Beaters.

His musings were interrupted as they slid into the compartment that O'Malley and Teddy had saved for them. The first thing they saw was O'Malley literally bouncing with excitement. He had spent long hours with the Weasleys over the summer learning to play Keeper from Ron Weasley, and, occasionally, Oliver Wood.

He tackled them to the seats once they were in the compartment and began talking Quidditch. The four friends did not thoroughly exhaust that topic until long into the train ride. After finishing their discussion, they had a moment of silence before Teddy asked, "So, did you find out anything more about your dad?"

Lyra sighed dramatically. "Not a thing. We just added what Mum said to Harry to our list of things we know about him."

O'Malley spoke next, "What exactly is on the list?"

Leo answered him, saying, "Very different from the rest of his family, a fine Gryffindor, more reckless than me, brave, loyal, possibly a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and he died before we were born."

"Not much to go on, is it?" Teddy replied.

"No, it's not."

* * *

As second years, it was their first time taking the carriages up to school. Teddy knew all about thestrals from Harry, but the others were utterly clueless. O'Malley was the first to say so as he asked, "What's pulling the carriages? Or is it just a charm that makes them move on their own?"

"Thestrals. They're invisible, most of the time at least."

"Most of the time?"

"Yeah. You can only see them if you've seen someone die. They're very friendly though."

Leo sighed in relief.

Lyra spoke up then. "Oi! This one's got room for us. Hurry up, you lot! I want food!"

Leo was the voice of reason to her insanity. "We won't be able to eat until after the Sorting anyway, so there's no need to rush, o crazy one."

Climbing into the carriage, they found it to be quite cozy despite the slight bouncing as it started to roll towards the castle.

As they reached to the castle, they clambered out. Leo managed to restrain Lyra, so she would walk sedately to their regular seats at the Gryffindor table. They had to wait a bit before Professor Flitwick finally led the shivering first years into the Great Hall.

This time it was Leo who spoke as he asked, "Were we really that titchy last year? I mean, they're downright tiny."

Teddy shushed him as the Sorting Hat began his song. They were all able to really enjoy the song this year as they did not have to worry about being Sorted. As the Hat ended, they burst out in applause alongside the rest of the students and staff, and the Sorting began.

To Lyra's delight, it was over swiftly, and Professor McGonagall kept with the same short speech as last year. The food quickly appeared, the tables groaning under the weight. She quickly dug in, only looking up when she heard sounds of disgust coming from those around her. The boys, however, were used to it and merely shook their heads. Teddy also piped in that she was "worse than Uncle Ron" when it came to table manners.

Swallowing, she replied, "I resent that. I have plenty good table manners." Then she smirked. "I just choose not to use them."

"My point exactly."

* * *

With the pudding finished and all their stomachs stuffed to bursting, Lyra headed for the nearest prefect to get the new password. This time, it was Metamorphmagus. Lyra burst out laughing when she heard it and couldn't stop long enough to tell the boys even as they hurried over to see what had happened.

Finally, gasping for air, she managed to get out, "The password… It's 'Metamorphmagus'."

O'Malley and Leo joined in the laughter as the tips of Teddy's hair turned pink in embarrassment.

"Alright," he grumbled, "that's enough. It's not that funny. Can we head to the tower now?"

"Sure, sure. I haven't had a chance to see Emma and Jojo yet anyway." Emma, of course, was Lyra's best girl friend, and Jojo was the only other tolerable girl of their roommates. The others were way too boy obsessed for second years, and they had latched onto Teddy, O'Malley, and Leo as the fittest boys in their year from the very beginning and were quite obnoxious about it. They had learned quickly though not to bug Lyra for gossip about the boys. None of them had been able to sit down comfortably for a week after she was through with them the last time.

Using some shortcuts they had discovered the previous year, they were able to beat the prefects and the crowd of first years to the common room, as well as most of the rest of the house. The boys were quick to snag the best seats in front of the fireplace while Lyra headed for her room.

As she was the first one there, she took the time to unpack some of her trinkets that stayed on her bedside table. Among them was a wizard picture her mother had taken that summer of Leo and Lyra in the middle of a water balloon fight, laughing their heads off. Lyra sighed. It had been good to be home with just the family, even if she had missed Teddy and O'Malley. It had also been a bit rough being home again, but she hadn't felt like she could burden Leo with her thoughts, so she had pretended all was well.

In truth, one of her oldest dreams had died over the summer. Ever since she could remember, she had wanted a father. In her heart of hearts, she had always thought that one day, their mother would tell them about him, and he would become a part of their life. But with the knowledge of his death came the end to that dream.

There would never be any father to meet her boyfriend and terrify him. There would be no father to hold her tight as she cried after a breakup. There would be no father to help her with her summer homework or to teach her how to perfect her technique as a Beater. There would be no father to walk her down the aisle when the time came.

And for the first time in a very long time, Lyra allowed herself to cry.

When the other girls finally reached their room, they found her asleep on her bed. None dared wake her, but Emma took the time to pull a blanket up over her. As she tucked it in around her sleeping form, she noticed the tear tracks on her face. Smoothing her hair down, Emma made a mental note to ask Lyra what was wrong when she next got a chance.

* * *

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Lyra woke the next morning to find herself well rested yet slightly icky after falling asleep in her clothes. Luckily, she was the first one awake and was able to take a long hot shower while the others slept on.

Slipping downstairs after she was ready, she saw the common room devoid of life as all had chosen to sleep in that morning since it was the last morning for a while in which they would be able to do so without worrying about last minute essays that needed to be completed.

Her first thought was to go noisily wake the boys as they had to her this same morning a year ago, but she decided to take pity on their roommates. Tiptoeing into their room, she scrawled a quick note, so as they would know she was already at breakfast, before dropping it on Leo's bedside table.

Once she was back in the common room, she headed for the portrait hole at a leisurely pace, deciding to take her time getting the Great Hall as there was no need to hurry, and if she did hurry, she risked getting there before the house elves sent the food up to the tables.

As she turned the corner on a fourth floor corridor, she was brought up short as she heard crying coming from the far side of a nearby suit of armor. Walking to it, she found a girl curled up on the floor, crying into her robes. Unable to leave her there, Lyra bent down and asked, "What's wrong?"

The girl sniffed and hiccupped before saying, "I was trying to make it down to the Great Hall for breakfast, but the stairs kept moving, and I got lost."

"Well, get up then. I was just on my way down, and I can show you the way."

The girl's face brightened. "Really? That'd be great!"

"Come on then. I'm right hungry." Lyra stood up from her crouched position and stretched before heading for the staircase that would lead them down another floor.

The girl clambered up quickly and followed. "My name's Daisy. I'm a first year muggleborn."

Well, that explained why the moving staircases upset her so badly. "Lyra's the name. Second year. You ever need help again, just ask. I'm not much one for schoolwork though, so it'd probably be better you asked my twin brother, Leo, about that."

"You're a twin? That's brilliant. My younger brothers are twins too. I swear they have telepathy or something." She laughed at the last bit; it was obviously a common joke in her family.

"Ah ah, don't laugh. They might actually. It's not unheard of. And there are muggleborns whose siblings follow them here."

"Truly?"

"Yep. Just wait and watch for anything weird happening around them when you're home."

"I will."

At that, they had reached the Great Hall, and Lyra left Daisy to find a seat while she headed for her usual spot.

After finishing her breakfast, Lyra amused herself by practicing a color-change charm she had found in a book over the summer. It allowed not just for different colors but also different patterns.

"That's an advanced piece of magic there," a voice said from behind her.

Spinning around, she saw Professor Longbottom smiling down at her.

She smiled in return. "Oh this? It's not that hard."

The Professor just shook his head at her. If only she put all that talent to use in class instead of just for fun. She was a lot like the Weasley twins in that. "Where are the boys? It's rare to see any of you by yourself. Even during the summer, Teddy and Mr. O'Malley were together most of the time."

She laughed. "I decided to be nice and let them sleep in."

"Just as long as I don't have to send Teddy to the Hospital Wing from the shock of it."

"No promises," she replied, grinning.

* * *

Once they all had their timetables at the end of lunch, they headed off for their first class of the morning, Transfiguration. Soon enough, it was as though they had never been gone.

* * *

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Quidditch tryouts had been scheduled for the first Saturday of school in hopes of getting a jumpstart on practicing with the new team. The captain, Andrew, was a bit worried about the turnout as there was only one other returning member. His worries, however, were nothing compared to a certain group of four second years who couldn't even stomach food at the thought of tryouts later that day. None of them had eaten a single morsel of food, not even Lyra. Despite her supposed confidence, she was just as nervous as the boys about what would be happening in a few hours.

Finally, the food disappeared off the tables, and the friends were forced to admit that it was now time to get their broomsticks for tryouts. Not wanting to be late, they raced up to Gryffindor tower, grabbed their brooms and headed straight for the Quidditch pitch.

Standing on the pitch, Leo looked around and took a quick headcount, realizing there were close to fifty people there to try out.

The captain then called for silence. Once it had quieted down, he began, "All right, you lot. My name is Andrew, and I'm the captain this year. I play Chaser, so there are only two Chaser spots open for you. The only other returning player is our Seeker, Hannah. I believe in taking the best, so there is a chance to take her spot if you truly prove to be better.

"Now. If you don't have a broom, you can borrow one from the shed. You'll be going up in groups of 5 to begin with, and you will have to fly a lap around the pitch. If you can't do that, you will be automatically cut. Any questions?"

There were no questions, but a handful of people seemed to realize they had no chance and walked off the pitch.

"All right, then. You five there, get going."

As expected the four friends made their lap easily, but many did not. By the time everyone had gone, there were only twenty seven people left in total, not counting the captain or Seeker.

The first to try were the Keepers. They were being judged on how many they could stop out of ten shots made at them by the captain.

The first, O'Malley thought, wasn't all that good. In the end, he only stopped six of the ten. The second got O'Malley worried, making nine of the ten. The third was so bad that the captain sent him off the pitch directly, not even waiting to see how O'Malley did. O'Malley was last to go, and while nervous, he knew that he could stop every shot. While he had been paying attention to the other Keeper hopefuls, he had also paid close attention to the captain and felt that he could read his tells quite well, considering he had no experience playing against him.

To O'Malley's delight, he stopped every shot as they came at him. Some had been very close calls, but his summer of practice had paid off. The captain was quick to name him the new Keeper while also letting the runner-up know that he would be called on to play should O'Malley ever be unable to, be it due to illness, injury, or detention. He also asked the new backup to help with Chaser tryouts.

Of the thirteen Chasers trying out, two were cut almost immediately as it became clear they could not catch the Quaffle when it was passed to them. The eleven left were told to take five shots each at the backup Keeper. In the end, three made two shots each, two made three shots each, two made four shots each, and Teddy was one of four to make all five shots. With the others cut, those four were put up against O'Malley. Teddy went first, making eight of his ten shots. The next two made six each, and the last made eight as well. The last, whose name was Jason, along with Teddy, became the new Chasers while the other two became backups.

Next were the Beaters. They were told to pair up and pass a Bludger back and forth between them. After all, you can't be a Beater if you can't aim. Four of the ten hopefuls were sent away during this first exercise. The six left, including Leo and Lyra, were told to move farther apart from their partner with each successful pass. Two more were sent away as they were unable to hit the Bludger far enough. With four left, the captain sent up the new Chasers as well as the backups and told the first two to try and hit them. They were only able to hit the backups before the captain told them to stop. As Leo and Lyra flew up, an evil glint could be seen in their eyes. They quickly made good use of the Bludger, hitting Teddy and Jason once each and the backups twice each. Once they landed on the pitch again, the captain immediately named them the new Beaters.

Despite the captain's speech at the beginning about welcoming challengers to the returning Seeker, there was no one that wished to try. And so the Gryffindors had their Quidditch team for the year.

Sending the backups away, the captain gathered his new team around him. "Welcome to the team, all of you. Like I said earlier, my name is Andrew, and I'm the captain and a sixth year. This is our Seeker, Hannah. She's a fifth year. So, names and years all around."

"Jason, fourth year."

"Teddy, second year."

"Ah. My Chasers. You both did spectacularly up there. I see many goals being scored this year."

"O'Malley, second year."

"You were beyond brilliant. I could hardly believe it when you stopped every shot I sent at you. Maybe we'll even have some shutout games this year."

"Leo, second year."

"Lyra, second year."

"Twins are you? That explains a bit. The last pair of truly magnificent Beaters we had was the Weasley twins. You play off each other perfectly. Now, this calls for celebration. I think a trip to the kitchens is in order." The team quickly seconded their captain's suggestion.

* * *

Saturday, November 13, 2010

After making the Gryffindor Quidditch team, the four friends soon found they had little time left for mischief. They were either doing their schoolwork or practicing. If nothing else, it kept them out of detention.

They were still left with plenty of time to fret about the first Quidditch game of the season. As expected, it was the Gryffindor versus Slytherin game. Practices had been steadily getting more intense as the game approached until the day finally arrived.

Rather than irritate Lyra's roommates, Hannah was sent to wake her and drag her downstairs. Most of the team still looked half asleep when they got to the common room, but Andrew had insisted that they get a good breakfast in and then run through plays before the game began.

The team followed him down to the Great Hall, but several could not get any food down. They knew they were good, but this would be the first real test of their abilities.

Finally giving up on eating, the team rose as one and headed for the changing rooms. Andrew was the only one to speak. Even Lyra was silent as she contemplated the coming game.

They pulled on their Quidditch robes before gathering to go over plays. After ten minutes though, Lyra finally broke her silence to tell Andrew that, "We know these plays forward, backwards, and sideways. We don't need to go over them again."

Jason was quick to second her.

"Alright, alright. Well, as Lyra pointed out, we know everything we need to. We are ready to whoop some Slytherin butt out there today, and we are GOING TO WIN!"

The team answered with whoops and yells.

"Now, let's get out there and show them what Gryffindors are made of!"

As the game began, Slytherin was fast to grab the Quaffle and just as fast to drop it when hit by a Bludger from Leo.

That set the tone for much of the game. The few times a Slytherin was able to get to the goal posts to shoot, O'Malley was always there, stopping the Quaffle from going in.

Each of the Gryffindor Chasers had scored once when Hannah made a dive for the Snitch. At least, for what everyone thought was the Snitch. Avery, the Slytherin Seeker, followed her into the dive, but with less experience, he nearly crashed as she pulled up just above the ground. Once he realized that she had been faking, he began swearing up a storm and chasing after her. He seemed determined to knock her off her broom, but Lyra put a stop to that, knocking the wind out of him with a Bludger to the gut.

She pulled the same trick several more times throughout the game while the Gryffindor Chasers managed to score three more times. By the time she had actually spotted the Snitch, Avery was so sure that she was faking it again that he was nowhere near her when she caught the Snitch, ending the game.

The cheers from all the houses except Slytherin were deafening as the team landed on the pitch to head for the changing rooms. Entering the changing rooms, Hannah dropped straight onto a bench to lie down. "That many almost-Wronski Feints are exhausting. But it was so worth it."

"You were brilliant out there, Hannah. That titchy Slytherin never saw it coming." Andrew was bursting with excitement after winning his first game as captain.

Leo responded, "His name's Avery, and he's a bit thick."

"Well, it worked out for us. So everyone, clean up and change, and we can go celebrate with the rest of Gryffindor. We're the guests of honor after all."

* * *

The celebration was already in full swing by the time the team arrived. The already deafening noise level only increased as they stepped through the portrait hole. Looking around, it was clear that several someone's had made a trip to the kitchens for food and butterbeer. The team was swept up in the celebration before finally claiming exhaustion and going to bed. Lyra was the only one with enough energy left to stay up until the party was shut down at 3am by Professor Longbottom.

* * *

Saturday, December 4, 2010

The Quidditch practices lessened as the weather got worse, but there was still little time for mischief as their workloads increased with the holidays approaching.

The first Saturday of December found the friends sleeping in the quiet of the morning as the snowfall from the night before muffled the normal sounds.

Slowly waking, Lyra found Emma sitting on the end of her bed watching her.

"You know that's slightly creepy, don't you?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Emma smiled. "Yes, I do. But that's half the fun. I was kind of hoping you'd freak out when you saw me sitting here."

A smirk appeared on Lyra's face as she stated, "I'm not that easily startled. I grew up with Leo after all."

Emma cocked her head to the side. "How does that make a difference? He's not the mad one; you are."

"He's much more reserved in public than he is when it's just us. There have been plenty of times were he snuck up on me just to make me jump. I'm pretty much immune by now."

Emma nodded her understanding.

"Is there a particular reason you were sitting here waiting for me to wake up?" Lyra asked.

"Yes, actually. I was thinking last night, and I realized that there was something I'd wanted to talk to you about that I had forgotten."

"Oh yeah? What was it?"

Emma paused for a moment, unsure of how to start. "I know that you… that you cried yourself to sleep on the first night of term. I was wondering what was wrong. You're not normally one to cry."

"Oh. That." Lyra sighed. "I was just having a little pity party for myself while I was alone."

Hiding her frustration at Lyra's evasiveness, Emma asked, "What was the pity party about?"

"I found out over the summer that my dad's dead, and he has been since before I was born. I was just thinking of how there was no possibility of him becoming a part of my life."

Emma scooted up next to Lyra on the bed and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

"It's alright now. I just hadn't had a chance to really cry about it at home because I didn't want Leo or Mum to know, especially Leo. He can be really touchy about the whole thing, so I try to minimize new developments like this."

"Well, if you ever need to talk, I'm here."

"Thanks. You're a good friend, Emma."

* * *

After getting ready for the day, despite it being nearly noon already, Lyra headed down for lunch. She was soon joined by the boys, and they began discussing their plans for the holidays.

Teddy began, saying, "You're all invited to stay with me over the holidays. Gram said so in her last letter."

Leo replied for the twins, "Mum already said no to going anywhere but home for the holidays. Sorry, Teddy."

He shrugged. "It's alright. I thought I'd offer though. What about you, O'Malley?"

He smiled. "I just got a letter from my Mum this morning saying it was alright. I've never had a magical Christmas before. What's it like?"

The other three looked at each other before shrugging simultaneously. Leo spoke up, saying, "Same as a Muggle Christmas I suppose, but with magical presents and listening to the WWN."

"WWN? What's that?"

Lyra responded, "It's the Wizarding Wireless Network. It's a magical radio station."

"Really? That sounds brill."

"Eh. It's really not that much different from Muggle radio."

"I'll make my own judgments, thank you very much. You lot are all just too used to having magic around all the time."

* * *

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Almost three weeks later, the friends were sharing a compartment on the train ride home. All were excited for the coming holidays, but O'Malley had actually managed to surpass Lyra in excitement level as he anticipated his first Wizarding Christmas.

Despite the weight of his trunk, he still managed to be one of the first off the train as it pulled into King's Cross Station, dragging said weighty trunk behind him. Spotting Andromeda Tonks amongst the crowd, he approached her. "Hello, Mrs. Tonks. It's good to see you again."

She smiled down at the boy who had spent so much time with the family over the summer learning Quidditch. "Hello, Canice. How was school?"

Finally used to her refusal to call him by his surname, he managed to refrain from grimacing as he answered her, "It was brilliant, especially the Quidditch. Teddy told you I made Keeper, right?"

"Yes, yes he did. And here he comes now. I don't see your other friends though."

He turned around to see Teddy walking towards them with the twins nowhere in sight. He was a bit sad to not be able to say goodbye but he reasoned that their mum had probably snatched them up as soon as they got off the train.

"Hi, Grandma 'Dromeda," Teddy greeted, pulling her into a hug.

"Hello, sweetie. Everything alright?" she questioned.

"Everything's wonderful. I didn't even get a single detention this term."

She smiled down at him and patted him on the shoulder. "That's good, Teddy. Now, let's get going. We're to Harry's first. He would have come to get you himself, but Lily was being fussy today."

* * *

As O'Malley had figured, Hestia had indeed grabbed hold of the twins the moment they stepped off the train. She had seen Andromeda across the platform and was hoping to keep her from seeing the twins.

Ushering them to the car, they were soon home unpacking.

Just as Leo was finishing putting everything away, Lyra bounced into him room, plopping down on the bed. "Mum said there's this new program on the telly that she thought we'd like. She's recorded it so we can watch the whole first series."

Leo arched his eyebrow. It must be quite good for Mum to have recorded it. She was better with electronics than most wizards, but the twins were normally put in charge of complicated things like recording. "What's it called?"

"Downton Abbey. It's set in the early nineteen hundreds and follows an aristocratic family and their servants on their country estate. It's got stuff about the old Muggle hierarchy and some Muggle history that she said was quite interesting."

Leo had always been fascinated by Muggle history. Maybe that would be enough to make up for the mushy love stuff that was probably also in the program. "Alright. I'm done for now. You want to go watch it now or later?"

"Now!"

"Should have guessed."

* * *

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve found Teddy and O'Malley asleep in their shared room at Potter Manor. Stumbling downstairs for breakfast, they found the house had been overrun while they slept. Every blood relative as well as honorary family member had arrived, and together were eating, playing games, and causing general chaos throughout the house.

O'Malley was quite overwhelmed. While he had spent some time with _some_ of Teddy's extended family over the summer, he had never seen them _all_ in the same place at the same time. Luckily, he was able to find Victoire and Katarina Wood. As Oliver Wood's daughter, she had come along to some of the Quidditch session over the summer, so O'Malley knew her fairly well. They talked Quidditch for a bit until Teddy returned with breakfast, or rather, lunch as it was nearly noon.

After lunch, a Quidditch game was organized. It was almost entirely adults, but Teddy, O'Malley and Katarina were allowed to play as well. Victoire was considered old enough as well, but she had no desire to even try.

The game was chaos. Players were constantly switching sides to fit their fancy, and no one seemed to know the actual score.

Before anyone could come to blows over who had won, they were all called in to get ready for dinner. The meal had been prepared by Molly Weasley, the first, with help from Kreacher.

As people found their seats around the table, even the banquet hall of Potter Manor began to feel stuffed with over forty people in it. It did not help that Hagrid took up the same space as three entirely human people. Even Professor McGonagall had managed to make it away from the school for the meal since it was on Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas Day, where she would be expected to go to the meal at Hogwarts.

Dinner was more chaos, but it was fairly organized chaos, and the only messes were those made by the children to young to know any better.

After dinner, it was time to open gifts as most people were heading off that night to spend Christmas Day with other family.

The most notable gifts, of course, were the Weasley sweaters that had been knitted by Grandmum Weasley for every single grandchild, whether a blood relative or not.

Teddy's favorite present, however, was the pair of bright green Chaser gloves from Victoire. He was also quite happy with her reaction to his gift to her. He had bought a sparkly headband with a rose on it and then gotten Lyra to charm it to change colors to match her current outfit. Vic was enamored with it.

* * *

Saturday, December 25, 2010

On Christmas morning, Lyra pounced on Leo as he was sleeping peacefully. It was only 4am, after all. He flipped her onto the floor with a practiced air before rolling over and going back to sleep. She was not having any of that though, and she bodily dragged him out of bed and heading for the stairway. By the time she reached them, he had given up on getting any more sleep and insisted on walking down the stairs under his own power. He preferred to not end up at St. Mungo's on Christmas morning.

As per tradition, they were only allowed to open their stockings while Hestia still slept peacefully upstairs. She had filled them quite full, hoping to keep them occupied long enough that she would be able to sleep in until a decent time of morning.

Unfortunately, Lyra was bored by 6am and proceeded to drag their mother out of bed as well.

Stumbling downstairs, she watched them open their presents with gusto and soon found herself feeling quite melancholy. Her Christmas morning wakeups had always reminded her of Christmas her seventh year, a time when she had been at her happiest. The war was barely touching their lives, and they had been able to be so utterly removed from it for one last time.

Looking at the twins again, she saw them sporting Weasley sweaters. Apparently, being friends with Teddy added them to Molly's list of family. That was good. They needed to have a bigger family than just her. And soon enough, she would be forced to tell them about their father, and there would be no more reason to keep them away from the other old Order members.

* * *

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The week following Christmas, Hestia was pulled into work unexpectedly, and so she left the twins home alone for a day. As they were prone to do, they took the opportunity to snoop through the boxes their mother had stashed in the attic.

However, they only found one thing of any consequence. It was an old leather jacket that had obviously been well loved and was not only too large for Hestia, but also unlike anything they had ever seen her wear, either during their lifetime or in pictures from when she was younger. She had always had a very distinct fashion sense that had never included wearing overly large leather jackets.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry if any of the Quidditch stuff seems off or lacking; I'm not much of a sports person, so I did my best.**

**To all those who love Downton Abbey, I apologize for any inadequacy in the description. I have never personally watched it, so feel free to correct me of you feel my description is lacking.**


	15. Not A New Chapter

Author's Note:

Do not fear. I know it's been forever since I updated, but I am not abandoning this story. This story is the reason I started writing and is my baby and will be finished. But the last time I was rereading the last few chapters to get in the mindset to write the next chapter, I realized how awkward this is… and so I came up with a different way to write the same plot that'll be much better in my opinion. I could in theory finish this the way it is, but I feel it would be a disservice to you. So it'll be the same plot with some tiny tweaks. I'm going to be posting it as a separate story though, titled The Life and Lies of Leo and Lyra 2.0. It may be a bit before I post though as I want the beginning to be as perfect as I can get it. Once I get it started though, it should go faster as I already have a six page outline that's super detailed and such and makes much more sense in my head than my outline for this version did.

I hope all that made sense… if you have any questions, review/pm me and I'll answer them… unless you want spoilers. Those I will not give.

I will post again on here when I have the first chapter of the rewrite up so you'll know.


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